UPDATE: 03/08/2012 - JUSTICE - MUSIC - RUSSIA - VLADIMIR PUTIN
Putin requests leniency for Pussy Riot punks
Three female members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, who are facing trial and jail terms of up to seven years for performing a protest inside Moscow's main cathedral, should not be judged "so harshly", President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.
News Wires (text)
link-
http://www.france24.com/en/20120803-russia-putin-requests-leniency-trial-pussy-riot-punk-band-censorship-alyokhina-tolokonnikova-samutsevich