2 Aug 2012 22:05

Putin says against punishing Pussy Riot musicians "too strictly"

LONDON. Aug 2 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he did not think the three women members of Russian punk rock bank Pussy Riot who are on trial in Moscow for a scandalous anti-Putin performance in an Orthodox cathedral in Moscow "should be punished too strictly."

"There's nothing good about that [the Pussy Riot performance in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in February]," Putin told reporters in London. "Nevertheless, I don't think they should be punished too strictly. I hope they will draw some conclusions themselves."

"It's the court that must issue the final decision," Putin said. "I hope the court issues a correct decision, a well-substantiated one."