Pussy Riot call for their lawyers' nomination for Nobel Peace Prize

Moscow - The members of the feminist punk group Pussy Riot convicted for their stunt in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior have suggested that their lawyers be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. 

"We are calling on our friends and supporters, parliamentarians of free countries, and culture figures to support our nomination of lawyers Feigin, Polozov and Volkova for the Nobel Peace Prize," a handwritten copy of the letter signed by the convicted Pussy Riot women posted on a site supporting Pussy Riot says.

In their letter, the Pussy Riot activists reiterate that they consider their lawyers to be politicians. "Many people say that our lawyers are not lawyers, but politicians. That is true. It can't be other wise politically," the letter says.

The letter also states that the lawyers defended the Pussy Riot activists "openly, making every moment of the disgraceful trial public, despite the risks to their reputation and safety."

"We would like to nominate them for the Nobel Peace Prize because without them the world community would not have been the judicial system of our country," the letter says.

The document is dated September 27 and is signed by Yekaterina Samutsevich, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, and Marina Alyokhina.

Masked Pussy Riot punk group singers staged what they called "an anti-Putin punk prayer" at the Christ the Savior Cathedral on February 21 2012. The singers' escapade aroused a strong emotional reaction in the public.

The three: Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Yekaterina Samutsevich and Maria Alyokhina, were detained on counts of hooliganism. The women pleaded not guilty, saying that it was a political action and that they did not mean to insult believers.

A court in Moscow sentenced each of the three to two years in a general prison.