Three members of Punk feminist protest band ***** Riot have been found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred in a Moscow court after their performance in February inside a Russian Orthodox cathedral .
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 23, Maria Alekhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29 were sentenced to two years in prison - the minimum sentence for such an offence open to the courts.
In sentencing the judge argued that bands' feminist beliefs were part of encouraging religious hatred.
There were protests outside the courts and world chess Grand Master, turned politician Gary Kasparov was arrested along with opposition politician, Sergei Udaltsov.
Amnesty and Human Rights watch have both condemned the verdict whilst the Russian Orthodox church has called on the government to show "mercy".
