Pussy Riot's Alyokhina gets 40 hours of corrective labor for event near FSB
MOSCOW. Dec 21 (Interfax) - Moscow's Meshchansky District Court has sentenced Maria Alyokhina, a member of the group Pussy Riot,, who was earlier detained while conducting an event near the Federal Security Service (FSB) building in Moscow, to corrective labor, an Interfax correspondent reported from the courtroom on Thursday.
"The court sentences Maria Alyokhina to administrative punishment in the form of 40 hours of corrective labor," Judge Yulia Mordvina said.
Alyokhina was found guilty of a violation under the article of the Russian Code of Administrative Violations dealing with "participation in an unauthorized meeting, demonstration, march, or picket resulting in the obstruction of the functioning of infrastructure facilities, the movement of pedestrians and/or road vehicles, or citizens' access to residential buildings or transport or social infrastructure facilities."
Oleg Yeliseyev, a defense lawyer, said his client was not trying to conduct a picket or obstruct traffic and that the article therefore did not apply to her.
Yeliseyev had asked that she be acquitted or given a fine, as she has an underage child.
Alyokhina did not plead guilty, saying she does not consider her event a "picket."
After the court hearing, Alyokhina said she will file an appeal
Alyokhina was detained on December 20 while conducting an event near the FSB building in Moscow, where she was standing with a "gift poster."
She was detained and taken to a police station.