Amnesty to rebels in Russia

Yesterday, the Russian parliament approved an amnesty for the convicted and charged for vandalism, collaterally benefiting both members of the punk band Pussy Riot and thirty crew members of Greenpeace icebreaker Arctic Sunrise.

The adoption of this general amnesty, to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Constitution, could release the accused and convicted of participating in public disorder. Among them, most of the defendants in the so-called Case Bolotnaya.

In addition to the members of Pussy Riot, who would be serving two years in prison for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” and Greenpeace activists, around 25,000 persons will go free.