You're reading: Russian prosecutor seeks 3-year jail terms for Pussy Riot trio

MOSCOW - A Russian state prosecutor asked a Moscow court on Tuesday to impose three-year jail sentences on three women from the Pussy Riot punk band who performed a "punk prayer" in a church. 

“The actions of the accomplices clearly show religious hatred and enmity,” state prosecutor Alexei Nikiforov said in closing arguments. “Using swear words in a church is an abuse of God.”

Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, could have faced a maximum sentence of seven years for storming the altar of Moscow’s main cathedral on Feb. 21 and belting out a “punk prayer” calling on the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Vladimir Putin, who is now president.