Russian court may defer Pussy Riot member sentence

BEREZNIKI, Russia - The Associated Press

Maria Alyokhina, a member of the female punk band "Pussy Riot", is escorted before a court hearing in Berezniki in Perm region, near the Ural mountains, January 16, 2013. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

A Russian court is weighing whether an imprisoned members of feminist punk band Pussy Riot can serve the remainder of her two-year sentence when her 5-year-old son is 14.

Maria Alekhina is petitioning the court in Berezniki, a remote Ural mountains town near where she is serving her sentence. She was convicted last year along with two other band members of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred for an anti-President Vladimir Putin stunt in Russia’s main cathedral.

One of the women, Yekaterina Samutsevich, had her sentence suspended on appeal after she argued she was thrown out by guards before she could take part in the stunt.

Several dozen supporters and journalists gathered outside the Berezniki court building, which was guarded by riot police in a rare situation for the small town.