http://news.sky.com/story/973800/pussy- ... ooliganism

Three members of the Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot have been found guilty of hooliganism after they performed an anti-Putin protest in Moscow's biggest church.

President Vladimir Putin's opponents said the trial in Moscow was part of a wider crackdown by him to crush their protest movement.

And stars including Madonna, Sir Paul McCartney and Bjork had called for Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Maria Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, to be released.

The judge said the three defendants, two of whom have young children, committed hooliganism driven by religious hatred and offending religious believers.

Prosecutors want them jailed for three years, down from a possible maximum seven-year term, and Mr Putin himself said he hoped the sentencing was not "too severe".

It certainly does appear as though Putin is cracking down on dissent and political opponents. It's a worrying trend that seems to be continuing and even slowly escalating.

At the same time, it seems there are no real political parties or dissenters able to defeat Putin's party at the moment. Now, I admit that I do not have that great an insight into Russian politics, but as said, Putin is beginning to seem imposing rather than democratic.

In overview, it would appear to me that there exists no real tangible opposition to Putin, at least not enough to seriously threaten his political power...it's not despotism...but oligarchy?

Ex-KGB gadgie terrorising all opposition, rigging electiions and establishing a dictatorship? Sounds pretty despotic to me Mr Beard. McCartney should have knacked him when he turned up for the judo at the Olympics but as the mighty Joe Strummer once sang- if Adolf Hitler flew in today they'd send a limousine anyway.