Russia detains four at Pussy Riot protest outside church

Russian police on Wednesday arrested four activists who demonstrated outside a landmark Moscow church in support of members of protest punk band Pussy Riot who are now on trial.

Nearly 20 demonstrators, wearing the group's trademark coloured balaclavas, held up individual letters that spelled a New Testament phrase, "Blessed are the merciful," in support of the female musicians.

They held their protest outside the Russian capital's Church of Christ the Saviour, where Pussy Riot performed their "punk prayer" against strongman Vladimir Putin in February.

Three band members are on trial for hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. Prosecutors have asked for three years' prison for the young women, and the judge will begin reading her verdict on Friday.

In Wednesday's protest, security guards from the church broke up the demonstration before police arrived.

"As a result, four people have been detained," a Moscow police spokesman told AFP, adding that they would likely face administrative charges.

The Ridus citizen journalism website posted a video of white-shirted security guards approaching the activists and pulling away the letters of the protest message before chasing off demonstrators and journalists.

"The guards of the church used physical force, not only on the activists but on journalists covering the protest," a photographer from the liberal daily Novaya Gazeta wrote on the newspaper's website.

Rustem Adagamov, a prominent blogger who was involved in the protests against the re-election of Putin as president this year, wrote on Twitter that the guards "broke cameras and beat up several people".

Several security guards and other workers in the Church of Christ the Saviour testified as victims in the trial.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russia-breaks-pussy-riot-protest-outside-church-105505408.html

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