Despite a global outcry and support from high-profile musicians such as Paul McCartney, Madonna, and Sting, three members of Russian punk collective Pussy Riot were sentenced today to two years in jail for storming a Moscow church altar and performing an anti-Putin protest song (which only lasted a few minutes).
The presiding judge called the actions “a gross violation of public order” and “sacrilegious, blasphemous.”
Protests are planned today in support of Pussy Riot in many major cities around the world. According to Reuters, approximately two dozen protesters were detained outside the courtroom, including opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov and chess champion Garry Kasparov.