Yekaterina Samutsevich, the oldest member of Russian punk rock trio Pussy Riot, has been freed from prison after a successful appeal against her sentence. However, her band mates Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina remain behind bars for their protest against President Vladimir Putin.

Samutsevich, who gained a reputation for being the group's most persuasive and articulate orator, was freed after her lawyer argued she should not have been tried alongside her band mates because she did not take part in the notorious performance in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Irina Khrunova said her client was detained almost immediately, despite the fact that she had "not been praying, jumping [or] shouting expletives offensive to believers," reports The Daily Telegraph. Samutsevich's closing statement at the end of the trial in August was hailed as a powerful and succinct critique of the alliance between Mr Putin's government and the Russian Orthodox Church. The two other members of Pussy Riot will continue to serve their sentence despite arguing that Mr Putin had prejudiced the court by publically commenting on the case. In a documentary aired on his birthday (Oct 7, 2012), Putin said the women's sentence was appropriate because "it is inadmissible to undermine our moral values, our moral foundations, to destroy the country."

Pussy Riot's cause has been publically endorsed by the likes of Sir Paul McCartney and Madonna.