• Russia's Pussy Riot jailed for two years, sparking worldwide protests

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    Supporters of Russian punk-rock group Pussy Riot rally in Times Square on Friday.

    Michelle Siu / AP

    A supporter of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot is reflected off a wall during a protest outside the Russian consulate in Toronto on Friday.

    Reuters reports: Three women from the Russian punk band Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in jail on Friday for staging a protest against President Vladimir Putin in a church, a ruling supporters described as his "personal revenge".

    The group's backers burst into chants of "Shame" outside the Moscow courthouse and said the case showed Putin was cracking down on dissent in his new six-year term as president. Dozens were detained by police when scuffles broke out. Read the full story.

    Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters

    Police detain a supporter of the female punk band "Pussy Riot" members for violation of law and order outside a court building in Moscow on Friday.

    Critics say the arrest was Putin's personal revenge, raising questions about justice in Russia. NBC's Duncan Golestani reports.

     

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  • Pussy Riot readies for verdict in Moscow court

    Natalia Kolesnikova / AFP - Getty Images

    Members of the all-girl punk band "Pussy Riot" (left to right)Yekaterina Samutsevich, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, are escorted by policewomen in Moscow on Agust 17.

    Sergey Ponomarev / AP

    Feminist punk group Pussy Riot members, from left, Yekaterina Samutsevich, Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova sit in a glass cage at a court room in Moscow, Russia on Friday, Aug 17.

    Update: 10:03 am ET: The three band members were found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison

    Today a Moscow court will pass judgement on the three women from a punk band called, Pussy Riot, who captured the world's attention by defying the Russian authorities and ridiculing President Vladimir Putin in a church. Pussy Riot release rallies have stretched from Sydney to New York as a growing list of celebrities joined ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and pop icon Madonna in a campaign directed against Putin's crackdown on dissent. The women, two of whom have young children, are charged with hooliganism connected to religious hatred but the case is widely seen as a warning that authorities will only tolerate opposition under tightly controlled conditions. T-shirt on right worn by Tolokonnikova is Spanish and translates to "They shall not pass", a slogan often used to express determination to defend a position against an enemy.

    Full story.

    Three members of the Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot remain in jail after a performance in protest of Vladimir Putin in a Moscow cathedral. NBC's Michelle Kosinski reports.

  • Pussy Riot fans wear balaclavas to rally behind feminist Russian punk band

    David Moir / Reuters

    Protesters wearing balaclavas take part in an Amnesty International flash mob demonstration in support of the all women Russian punk band, Pussy Riot, in the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland on Tuesday. The demonstration is in support of the members of the group incarcerated in Russia and also to publicise the Amnesty International 'Stand Up For Freedom' comedy night, during this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

    Supporters of the jailed girl punk band "Pussy Riot" stage a flash mob on the steps of the same cathedral in Moscow where the band trio was arrested in February. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

     

  • Punk rockers Pussy Riot in court over anti-Putin church protest

    Maxim Shemetov / Reuters

    Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, left, Yekaterina Samutsevich, top, and Maria Alyokhina, right, members of female punk band "Pussy Riot", look out from the defendent's cell in a courtroom in Moscow on July 30, 2012. Three young women who staged an irreverent punk-rock protest against Vladimir Putin on the altar of Russia's main cathedral go on trial on Monday in a case seen as a test of the president's tolerance of dissent.

    NBC News wire services report from Moscow — Three young women who staged an irreverent punk-rock protest against Vladimir Putin on the altar of Russia's main cathedral were due to go on trial Monday in a case seen as a test of the president's tolerance of dissent.

    The trial of the activists - from the band Pussy Riot - should show how much power the resurgent Russian Orthodox Church and its head, Patriarch Kirill, wields. He has called the "punk prayer" blasphemy, casting it as part of a sinister anti-clerical campaign. Read the full story.

    Maxim Shemetov / Reuters

    A supporter of "Pussy Riot" waits outside the court where three members of the band are on trial, in Moscow on July 30, 2012.

    Previously on PhotoBlog: Topless feminist confronts Russian church patriarch

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