From the Times: Russia rejects criticism of Pussy Riot sentencing

http://www.timeslive.co.za/entertainment/2012/08/19/russia-rejects-criticism-of-pussy-riot-sentencing

Russia rejects criticism of Pussy Riot sentencing

Sapa-dpa | 19 August, 2012 15:28

Russia hit back Sunday at international criticism of the two-year jail sentences handed down to the punk band Pussy Riot, comparing it to similar laws in force abroad.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in an online statement that similar laws to those used to prosecute the all-female band applied in Germany, according to the Ria Novosti news agency.

Three members of Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in jail on Friday, after being found guilty of hooliganism and inciting religious hatred for an impromptu performance of an anti-Putin song in a Moscow cathedral earlier this year.

Germany's criminal code, for example, allows up to three years in prison for "disturbance of religious worship" or "abusing a denomination", Lukashevich said.