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Pussy Riot fest held in Russia despite pressure

 
Published on Sep 10, 2012
7:40 PM
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Veteran Russian rock singer and Kremlin critic Yuri Shevchuk performs during a concert in support of Pussy Riot and other political prisoners in a club in Saint-Petersburg on Sept 9, 2012. Partipicants of Pussy Riot - three young women, two of whom have young children, were found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred over their stunt against current Russian President Vladimir Putin - who was prime minister at the time -- in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour last February. -- PHOTO: AFP

ST PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) - A music festival to support jailed members of the Russian band Pussy Riot went forward despite official pressure to cancel it, organisers said on Monday.

Ms Olga Kurnosova said city officials had tried to force her to stop Sunday's show in St Petersburg - President Vladimir Putin's hometown - and firefighters had threatened to close down the Glavklub hall, claiming safety violations ahead of the concert.

About 1,000 people attended the "Free Pussy Riot Fest" headlined by the Russian rock protest bands DDT and Televizor, whose songs have long riled Soviet authorities and Putin's Kremlin.

Last month three members of Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in jail for a "punk prayer" against Putin in Russia's largest cathedral in a trial that provoked an international outcry. On Sunday, DDT frontman Yuri Shevchuk compared the spiraling Kremlin crackdown on political protests to Soviet-era repression of dissidents.

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