Freed Pussy Riot members to campaign for Russian prison reform

In the first press conference since their release from Russian jail, the two recently freed Pussy Riot members outlined plans to campaign for prison reform in Russia.

As the Toronto Sun note, Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova will be setting up a NGO lending from their experiences during their jail sentence.

Tolokonnikova also said that their opinions have not changed since their time in jail: “Our attitude to Vladimir Putin has not changed. We’d like to do what we said in our last action – we’d like him to go away.”

Last year, three members of the punk band were found guilty of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” and sentenced to two years in jail following the performance in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The song requested that the Virgin Mary drive Russian president Vladimir Putin from power.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 24, Maria Alyokhina, 25, had been named prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International. Yekaterina Samutsevich, 31, was released last October.