Russian Punk Prayer

Maria Alyokhina, member of a Russian feminist punk group, appears behind bars in a court in Moscow. She and two other band members are facing trial for performing a “punk prayer” against Vladimir Putin from a pulpit of a Moscow cathedral before Russia’s presidential election in March, in which Putin won a third term. (Mikhail Metzel / Associated Press)

July 30, 2012 3:12 PM PT

Three Russian feminist rockers who performed a “punk prayer” in a Moscow cathedral in protest of Vladimir Putin’s presidential bid went on trial Monday. They pleaded not guilty to charges of hooliganism, which could carry a punishment of up to seven years in prison.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich in a defendant’s cage at a district court in Moscow. (Yuri Kochetkov / EPA)

Maria Alyokhina waves as she is escorted to a courtroom in Moscow. (Mikhail Metzel / Associated Press)

Yekaterina Samutsevich, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina at their trial in Moscow. They have become a cause celebre for those opposed to Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s rule. (Natalia Kolesnikova / AFP/Getty Images)

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova gestures in court in June. She and her fellow band members are being tried in the same courtroom where Vladimir Putin’s archrival, former tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was convicted in a case that activists also charge was politically motivated. (Maxim Shipenkov / EPA)

Yekaterina Samutsevich during her June court appearance. She and her two codefendants said their cathedral performance was held in protest of the support of the Russian Orthodox Church¿s Moscow Patriarchy for Vladimir Putin’s bid for a third term as president. (Misha Japaridze / Associated Press)

Members of the Russian feminist group perform their “punk prayer” at Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow in February. (Sergey Ponomarev / Associated Press)

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Russian Punk Prayer

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