A Moscow appeals court has ruled that the sentences passed down on the Pussy Riot punk-rock collective were lawful.
Moscow City Court chairwoman Olga Yegorova told journalists in Moscow that the Pussy Riot appeal was heard on May 28.
However, Moscow Helsinki Commission chairwoman Lyudmila Alekseyeva told journalists that she disaagreed with the court's decision.
Alekseyeva said the Pussy Riot case is political and the group's members have been punished too severely for what they did.
Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, and Yekaterina Samutsevich were sentenced last year to two years in prison for staging an anti-Kremlin performance in Moscow's largest cathedral.
Samutsevich was later released on probation.
The jail sentences were widely criticized by the United States, the European Union, and many top artists.
Moscow City Court chairwoman Olga Yegorova told journalists in Moscow that the Pussy Riot appeal was heard on May 28.
However, Moscow Helsinki Commission chairwoman Lyudmila Alekseyeva told journalists that she disaagreed with the court's decision.
Alekseyeva said the Pussy Riot case is political and the group's members have been punished too severely for what they did.
Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, and Yekaterina Samutsevich were sentenced last year to two years in prison for staging an anti-Kremlin performance in Moscow's largest cathedral.
Samutsevich was later released on probation.
The jail sentences were widely criticized by the United States, the European Union, and many top artists.