LONDON. Aug 2 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he did not think the three women members of Russian punk rock bank Pussy Riot who are on trial in Moscow for a scandalous anti-Putin performance in an Orthodox cathedral in Moscow "should be punished too strictly."

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"There's nothing good about that (the Pussy Riot performance in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in February)," Putin told reporters in London. "Nevertheless, I don't think they should be punished too strictly. I hope they will draw some conclusions themselves."

"It's the court that must issue the final decision," Putin said. "I hope the court issues a correct decision, a well-substantiated one."

"I wouldn't very much like to comment, but I think that, if those young women had been, say, in Israel and desecrated something in Israel - many of you probably know that there are some pretty tough guys there, - they wouldn't have had an easy time getting out of there," Putin said.

"Or of they'd gone to the Caucasus - you needn't look too far, - and if they'd gone to some Muslim holy site, we wouldn't even have had enough time to take them under our protection," he said.

Putin answered in the negative when asked whether he had discussed the Pussy Riot affair during his talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday.

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LONDON. Aug 2 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he did not think the three women members of Russian punk rock bank Pussy Riot who are on trial in Moscow for a scandalous anti-Putin performance in an Orthodox cathedral in Moscow "should be punished too strictly."

file image
"There's nothing good about that (the Pussy Riot performance in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in February)," Putin told reporters in London. "Nevertheless, I don't think they should be punished too strictly. I hope they will draw some conclusions themselves."

"It's the court that must issue the final decision," Putin said. "I hope the court issues a correct decision, a well-substantiated one."

"I wouldn't very much like to comment, but I think that, if those young women had been, say, in Israel and desecrated something in Israel - many of you probably know that there are some pretty tough guys there, - they wouldn't have had an easy time getting out of there," Putin said.

"Or of they'd gone to the Caucasus - you needn't look too far, - and if they'd gone to some Muslim holy site, we wouldn't even have had enough time to take them under our protection," he said.

Putin answered in the negative when asked whether he had discussed the Pussy Riot affair during his talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday.