Russia's Pussy Riot Found Guilty of Hooliganism

State prosecutors want the women from the Pussy Riot group jailed for three years over the protest in February. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Russian punk band Pussy Riot was found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred by a Moscow district court on Friday.

Judge Marina Syrova said Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Maria Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, were guilty and would not be acquitted, RIA Novosti informs.

Syrova claimed the women had "crudely undermined social order" during their action in February.

“The defendants were aware of the offensive nature of their actions,” she said. “They sought to publicize their act and provoke a public reaction;they wanted to insult not only church clergy but also the broad sections of society.”

The three Pussy Riot members were detained after five masked women performed a song in Moscow's landmark Christ the Savior Cathedral in late February, speaking out against what they said was church support for Vladimir Putin's presidential election campaign.

The song, entitled "Holy S**t," featured the lyrics "Virgin Mary, drive Putin out!" and was performed at a time of unprecedented protests against the 12-year-long rule of the former KGB officer.

State prosecutors want the women from the Pussy Riot group jailed for three years over the protest in February.

The soldiers of the monument of the Soviet Army in downtown Bulgaria capital Sofia "woke up" Friday morning to wearing colorful hoods in sign of support of the three girls from Pussy Riot.

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