Monday, December 23, 2013 6:35am ET by  
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Pussy Riot members freed from jail

The remaining two Pussy Riot members have been freed from jail as part of an amnesty move.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina (pictured below, top) were today (December 23) let free from their jail sentences early after a law was passed to allow 20,000 Russian prisoners free.

They were jailed in August 2012 for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" after playing a protest song in a Moscow cathedral.

A third member, Yekaterina Samutsevich, was also jailed but was freed on appeal in October last year.

Alyokhina meanwhile has claimed the amnesty was a "PR stunt" ahead of the Winter Olympics, which has been the subject of boycott calls as a result of the country's anti-gay laws.

She added that as a result she would have preferred to have stayed in prison.

The two freed members' sentences were due to end in March 2014.

Tolokonnikova was released from a Siberian prison hospital amid concerns over her health and reports of a hunger strike.

A host of big name names in music have previously lend their support to the three musicians, including Madonna and Sir Paul McCartney.

 

 

 

 

 

Watch Pussy Riot's inflammatory performance below: