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                 Pussy Riot Member Takes Case to European Court

   by VOA News

   The only freed member of the anti-Kremlin all-female punk band Pussy
   Riot has filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights.
   Yekaterina Samutsevich's lawyer, Irina Khrunova, said on Friday the
   complaint accuses Russia of violating Samutsevich's right to free
   speech and illegally detaining her during her six months in jail.
   Khrunova says prison authorities deprived Samutsevich of food, liquids
   and sleep.
   Last week, a Russian appeals court freed Samutsevich but upheld the
   two-year jail sentences of two other members of the band for an
   unsanctioned protest at a Moscow cathedral.
   A judge suspended Samutsevich's sentence, saying guards threw her out
   of the cathedral before she could take part in the performance.

   All three members were convicted in August of hooliganism motivated by
   religious hatred.  They have argued their impromptu performance was
   political in nature and not an attack on religion.
   The trio was arrested on the altar of Russia's most prominent Orthodox
   cathedral in January, after they called on the Virgin Mary to deliver
   them from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
   Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said he thought the
   punishment was very strict. But Putin has said the court ruling was
   correct.
   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/pussy-riot-member-takes-case-to-europ
   ean-court/1529654.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/pussy-riot-member-takes-case-to-european-court/1529654.html