Here's the BBC
report:
Russian media say some opposition activists involved in unrest in May 2012 could also be released.
Mr Putin's amnesty bill has been submitted to parliament, to mark the Russian constitution's 20th anniversary on Thursday.
More details from
The Voice Project:
We’ve just spoken to Pyotr Verzilov, husband of imprisoned member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, who is confirming the rumors about both members, Nadya and Maria Alyokhina, being freed under the amnesty bill being submitted by the Kremlin to parliament to mark the Russian constitution’s 20th anniversary on Thursday. Nadya’s father Andrei has also been able to confirm this from “reliable sources.”
“It’s from the Kremlin and official already, they will be freed,” Pyotr told us today. Though he added, “We do not know yet when this will happen, because it is unclear when the bill will be voted by the Duma and how fast it will be applied to prisons – could be from 2 weeks to 2 months until they are freed.”
This would be a blow for political freedom and freedom of expression in a country with a decidedly mixed record on that front during the presidency of Vladimir Putin. The loved ones, in particular the children, of the imprisoned members of the punk rock feminist band
Pussy Riot are anxiously awaiting this amnesty so that they can get these women back home.
The Russian government arrested them in March 2012, and convicted them five months later for publicly performing a song that criticized Putin. The official charge was "hooliganism." Who's the hooligan in this scenario, one might ask.