Russia launches hunt for other Pussy Riot members

Investigators said Monday they had launched a fresh criminal probe against members of punk band Pussy Riot who remained free after an anti-Vladimir Putin stunt in Russia's top church. "The probe is currently ongoing, search activities are being conducted," a spokesman for Moscow police told AFP, three days after three members of the all-female band were jailed for two years by a court. He declined to provide further details. Five women in all pulled on brightly coloured balaclavas on February 21 and belted out an "anthem" in Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral calling on the Virgin Mary to remove Russian strongman Putin. The three put on trial were detained in March, while the other two remained free. During the trial, the prosection referred to them as "unidentified participants". It was not immediately clear whether the authorities' search was limited to just these two women or other members of the fluid female collective. Pyotr Verzilov, the husband of one of the jailed singers, told AFP earlier they were leading "normal lives." On Friday Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich were found guilty of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" and handed two-year jail terms in a court ruling the West decried as "disproportionate" punishment. Earlier Monday their lawyer said they would not seek clemency from Putin, who was elected president for a third term shortly after the cathedral stunt. "Our clients will not ask for a pardon," defence lawyer Nikolai Polozov told AFP, adding: "Literally this is what they said: 'Let them go to hell with their pardon'." Polozov said however the defence team planned to appeal to a higher court as soon as they received a copy of the lengthy verdict. Pussy Riot recently released a new song entitled "Putin is Lighting the Fires of the Revolution."