MOSCOW, Aug 7 (Reuters) - A Russian state prosecutor asked a
Moscow court on Tuesday to impose three-year jail sentences on
three women from the Pussy Riot punk band who performed a "punk
prayer" in a church.
"The actions of the accomplices clearly show religious
hatred and enmity," state prosecutor Alexei Nikiforov said in
closing arguments. "Using swear words in a church is an abuse of
God."
Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and
Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, could have faced a maximum sentence
of seven years for storming the altar of Moscow's main cathedral
on Feb. 21 and belting out a "punk prayer" calling on the Virgin
Mary to rid Russia of Vladimir Putin, who is now president.