Moscow court postpones Pussy Riot appeal

October 01, 2012 15:24

A Russian court on Monday postponed the appeal of three members of jailed rock band Pussy Riot until October 10 after one group member fired her lawyers.

The three performers were sentenced in August to two years in prison for hooliganism for performing a "punk prayer" against President Vladimir Putin at Moscow's main cathedral.

Band member Yekaterina Samutsevich announced at the opening of the hearing that she has fired her three lawyers over an unspecified disagreement. Samutsevich said she found another lawyer but had failed to sign a contract.

Prosecutors condemned the move as a delaying tactic. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Maria Alekhina, 24, and 30-year-old Samutsevich were arrested in March after dancing and high-kicking at Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral as they pleaded with the Virgin Mary to save Russia from Putin, who was elected to a third presidential term two weeks later.

They said during their trial in August that they were protesting the Russian Orthodox Church's support for Putin and didn't intend to offend religious believers.

The Russian Orthodox Church had on Sunday said that the rockers would deserve mercy if they repent for their February stunt in February. The move followed a statement by the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who said that keeping them in prison any longer would be "unproductive."

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