Free Pussy Riot: Free the two remaining in prison

Yekaterina Samutsevich following her release

It was excellent news that one jailed member of Pussy Riot was freed earlier this week.

• Exclusive interview with freed Pussy Riot member Yekaterina Samutsevich

But that still leaves two members in prison following a show trial earlier this year.

They should never have been sentenced to two years in prison. At worst, if found guilty, a misdemeanor that attracts a small fine.

Yekaterina Samutsevich has been freed. Nadya and Masha face imminent transfer to two different penal colonies, where they will not have each other for support, where they will be imprisoned hundreds of miles away from their families in notoriously dangerous conditions. The Russian media has been running a hate campaign against them which puts them at risk of abuse from fellow inmates.

In her live interview with CNN on being released, Yekaterina Samutsevich made it clear that they were not inciting religious hatred against the Church. They were not even attacking President Vladimir Putin. What they were attacking was an authoritarian state, the abuse of power by the state and the abuse of power by church authorities.

• Freed Pussy Riot member gives first interview

Please sign the Amnesty International petition calling for immediate release of Nadya and Masha.

Please forward to all your friends and colleagues.

• Pussy Riot member uses freedom to resume protests against Vladimir Putin
• Freed Pussy Riot Member Says ‘Art Must Be Political’
• Interview with freed Pussy Riot member Yekaterina Samutsevich (in Russian)

Tags: democracy, free pussy riot, human rights