video transcript

Two years behind bars. On Friday a Russian judge sentenced three women from the punk band Pussy Riot to two years in jail for staging an anti-Kremlin protest on the altar of Moscow's Christ the Savior church. The judge called the act "blasphemous". The women have support abroad, where their case has been taken up by a long list of celebrities including Madonna, and Sting. But polls show few Russians sympathize with them. The judge found the women guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. The husband of one of the band members offered his thoughts on the verdict (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) HUSBAND OF NADEZHDA TOLOKONNIKOVA, PUSSY RIOT MEMBER SENTENCED TO TWO YEARS IN PRISON, PETER VERZILOV, SAYING: "I think the only way to comment on this verdict is to say the title of new Pussy Riot song which has just been released. The song is called "Putin is lighting the fires of revolution." End of comments." The women say they were protesting against Vladimir Putin's close ties with the church. State prosecutors had requested a three-year jail term.