Madonna in Moscow: ‘Set Pussy Riot free!’

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Published time: August 08, 2012 01:02
Edited time: August 08, 2012 05:02

Madonna has added her support to the Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot, whose members are currently on trial in a Moscow court. The American pop diva took the Moscow stage with her “Like a Virgin” hit and a “Pussy Riot” inscription on her back.

­In the middle of her Tuesday performance in Moscow's Olympiysky Center, Madonna gave a rather long speech calling for the three jailed members of the band to be set free.

Calling all the girls by their names, Madonna said that they were paying too high a price for what they had done and that she hoped they would be set free, Itar-Tass reports. She also added that she wanted peace, freedom and talent to reign in the world. The audience met her speech with applause.

In February, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Maria Alyokhina, 24, and Ekaterina Samutsevich, 29, performed their “punk prayer” against President Vladimir Putin inside Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral. The prosecution has demanded three years in a minimum security prison on charges of hooliganism.

The highly publicized trial at Moscow's Khamovniki Court has received an international spin, with a number of celebrities, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sting and Terry Gilliam, speaking in support of their release.