Pussy Riot campaign picks up pace

The global campaign to free Pussy Riot is gaining speed: Supporters of the punk provocateur band mobilise this week in at least a dozen cities worldwide to hold simultaneous demonstrations an hour before a Russian court rules on whether its members will be sent to prison.

Friday’s rallies will ride a wave of support for the three women who have been in jail for more than five months because of an anti-Putin prank in Moscow’s main cathedral. Calls for them to be freed have come from a long list of celebrities such as Madonna and Bjork.