Pardon Pussy Riot members

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William D. started this petition to Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin started this petition to

On 21 February 2012, members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot performed a stunt that was calculated to get the world's attention: they performed a "punk prayer" inside Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow. The stunt, which lasted for only a minute, was a protest against Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church.



Then, on 17 August 2012, three of the band's members were sentenced to be put behind bars for two years, an astonishingly brutal injustice which has been condemned by both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as countless politicians and public figures throughout the world.



Please call on Russian President Putin to pardon the band members. Such a move would show that Russian leadership is not deaf to calls for freedom of speech and expression in modern Russia.



References:

* http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/aug/17/pussy-riot-trial-verdict-live

* http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/08/201281610563073589.html