A MEMBER OF the anti-Kremlin punk band Pussy Riot freed unexpectedly from prison said there was no split within the group, accusing the authorities of playing a “strange game” against the women.
A Russian appeals court on Wednesday unexpectedly ordered the release of Yekaterina Samutsevich, but upheld the two-year prison camp sentences against her two bandmates Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova.
The trio were contesting their conviction for hooliganism motivated by religious hatred after they performed a song mocking President Vladimir Putin in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Russia’s top church, in February.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the liberal television channel REN-TV that is set to be aired on Saturday, Samutsevich denied there was a split in the band.
“All of us have the same convictions. We’ve never thought about changing them,” she said, sporting the same clothes she wore at the Wednesday hearing.
“Maybe it was a move by the authorities,” the 30-year-old said in the interview, excerpts of which have been posted online.
“Some strange game of the authorities is beginning.
“To me, it is a campaign of calculated harassment by the authorities,” she added, referring to what she said was state television’s distorted coverage of the controversial affair that polarised the predominantly Orthodox country.
The judges said Wednesday Samutsevich had received a suspended sentence as she played a more minor role in the performance dubbed “The Punk Prayer”, having been apprehended by security before it had properly begun.
Samutsevich said she was hoping to continue being part of the band in the future, inviting others to join it.
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