One Pussy Riot Member Released

A Moscow court has freed one member of the punk band Pussy Riot on appeal on Wednesday, but the sentences for two others were upheld.

The three were convicted of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. Cheers were heard when the Moscow city court announced the suspension of 30-year-old Yekaterina Samusevih's sentence. However, Nadezhda Tokonnikova, 22, and Maria Alyokhina, 24, had their two-year prison sentences upheld.

The three were jailed in August for staging an anti-government protest at Moscow's main cathedral.

Samutsevich's lawyer argued that her client had been thrown out of the cathedral before it took place.

During the appeal hearing, the women had said their actions were political and not meant to offend the faithful. They said that the convictions had discredited the justice system.

Family members and other defense lawyers expressed joy over Samutsevich's release, but felt the others should have been as well.

This case had sparked widespread international outcry, with many governments condemning the sentences. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev had suggested that suspended sentences would have been punishment enough. However, President Vladimir Putin defended the sentences last week as just.

Defense lawyers said that they would continue the appeal process.