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Much controversy surrounds Russian punk band Pussy Riot. Aside from their name, the band is outspoken on politics and religion in a country where you can lose your freedom for doing so.
After nearly two years of imprisonment for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred," stemming from a protest in Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral, all members of the band are now free. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 24, and Maria Alyokhina, 25, were released roughly three months before their sentences were finished due to a recent amnesty law. The new law was enacted to free many nonviolent offenders from Russian prisons.
With the Winter Olympics right around the corner in February some see this as a face-saving PR move to clean up the image of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his country. Also as a result of the new amnesty law 30 Greenpeace members, arrested for their protest against Artic oil drilling, will avoid trial.
