Only one of Pussy Riot freed after split ruling

A member of punk band Pussy Riot was freed on appeal yesterday, but a court upheld sentences for two others imposed over a cathedral protest against Vladimir Putin.

Yekaterina Samutsevich walked free from Moscow City Court after six months behind bars but the appeal judge who suspended her two-year sentence said that fellow band members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina should serve out their terms.

“I have mixed feelings,” Samutsevich, 30, said outside the court, where she was greeted by applause and whistles from a large crowd in the rain. “I’m happy, of course, but I am upset about the girls.”