Pussy Riot Members Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova Freed From Prison

December 19th, 2013

Nina Corcoran

Finally, almost two years since their arrest, Pussy Riot members Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova have been freed from prison. During a news conference on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir confirmed their release.

Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova have been freed three months early thanks to the new amnesty law Russian legislators have adopted, providing that prisoners “who haven’t committed violent crimes, first-time offenders, minors and women with small children” are granted amnesty from their imprisonment.

Unfortunately, that law wasn’t written thanks to Pussy Riot. “I was not sorry that they [the Pussy Riot members] ended up behind bars,” Putin said. “I was sorry that they were engaged in such disgraceful behaviour, which in my view was degrading to the dignity of women.” Some critics believe that the bill, with its 446-0 passing vote in The State Duma as well as Putin’s support, is an attempt by the Kremlin to dust off Russia’s human rights record before they host the Winter Olympics in Sochi this upcoming February.

It’s been almost two full years since Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova jumped in the international spotlight and gained endless celebrity support after performing punk protest song “Punk Prayer: Mother of God Drive Putin Away” from within Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral on February 21, 2012. The members were arrested and found guilty of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred or hostility,” resulting in their sentence of two years in prison