The three young women on trial for their part in a punk-prayer protest at the Cathedral of Christ the Savour in Moscow have each received sentences of two years

The three women, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 23, Maria Alekhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, were told by Judge Syrova that the sentences would start from the day of their arrest. They have already been in custody for six months.

Whilst the trial itself was conducted with what many described as indecent haste, the finale was rather prolonged. After having announced a guilty verdict at the start of her judgement, the reading of the rest of it took some time. In fact the defendants and court were made to wait another two and half hours for the sentence, the only thing in this case which was an uncertainty.

But first they had to sit through a lengthy diatribe against the women. Amongst other things the judge found was that their actions had been motivated by religious hatred and apparently cited their feminism as the proof of this.

She also said that by their protest “they have deliberately placed themselves against Orthodox believers.” Adding that their “jerking of limbs” during the performance was further proof of hatred.

Whilst the verdict was being given demonstrations were happening at Russian embassies across the world.

Many in the West will hold the verdict up as the indication of the superiority of the West over its old rival. But we should not forget that in this country, Jonnie Marbles was recently sent to prison for throwing a plate of shaving foam at, and missing, Rupert Murdoch. That is not to mention some of the more serious miscarriages of justice that have occurred in Britain or the determination of some US states to execute the mentally ill or people with learning difficulties.

There was also a demonstration at the court house itself in Moscow, one of the first since harsh new laws were passed restricting the right to protest. It has been reported that both Gary Kasparov, leader of the liberal Solidarity movement, and Sergei Udaltsov of the radical Left Front were arrested there.

The verdict has now been passed and the women will be beginning their sentences. It seems hardly likely that this will be the end of the affair. The repercussions of this, the most sensational trial in Russia for decades, will continue to rumble through Russian society.

By sentencing the women to prison the state has shown itself willing to use the strong hand of the state, including the FSB, against peaceful protest. Yet by not using the full force of the law it has also shown itself to be susceptible to pressure.  

The women themselves have already claimed the trial as a victory for revealing the true, and unchanged, nature of the Russian state. The struggle is clearly not over.