December 13, 2013 - 12:37 AM
MOSCOW - Russia's Supreme Court has ordered a review of the case against two jailed members of the Pussy Riot punk band saying that a lower court did not fully prove their guilt.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich were found guilty of hooliganism motived by religious hatred in August 2012 following an impromptu protest in Moscow's main cathedral, and sentenced to two years in prison each. Samutsevich was released several months later on suspended sentence.
The Supreme Court said in a ruling published Thursday that the lower courts overlooked the women's circumstances that would have allowed for a more lenient sentences.
Tolokonnikova and Alekhina are scheduled for release in March, but it is unclear if they will be set free earlier by a lower court reviewing their case.
News from © The Associated Press, 2013