MOSCOW, August 29 - RAPSI. Attorney Dagir Khasavov, who was under investigation this Spring for his promise to flood Moscow with blood if Sharia courts were forbidden, is determined to help the convicted Pussy Riot members, Izvestia newspaper reports.

Khasavov believes that the Pussy Riot situation is very similar to that which prompted his self-imposed exile, in that they have also become victims of government repression. Khasavov has promised that he would be able to get their sentence revoked, if investigators give him the chance to return to Russia and place him under state protection.

"The [Pussy Riot] sentence was quite clearly unjust, but the women's attorneys were too interested in self-promotion and did not do everything they could," Khasavov said, "I will put together a team of lawyers and we will ensure that the case will be reconsidered at the higher instance."

The relatives of the convicted Pussy Riot members have shown interest in Khasavov's proposal.

In an interview with the Ren-TV channel on April 24, Khasavov proposed establishing a Sharia law court in Russia. He said Muslim society would enforce its own rules and any attempt to prevent them from doing so could lead to bloodshed. The lawyer's statements provoked a public uproar.

The prosecutor's office charged that Khasavov sought to incite national hatred and to offend people of other religions. The prosecutor's office concluded that his statements could be considered a call to extremism. In this regard, the Justice Ministry's Main Directorate for Moscow filed a petition with the Moscow Bar Association to strip Khasavov of his legal license. However, the Moscow Bar Association's qualification board declined to do so.

Khasavov decided on his own volition to leave Russia. The lawyer maintains that his statements were misunderstood and that an organized smear campaign has been launched against him.

On February 21, 2012, five girls wearing brightly colored balaclavas stormed the altar of Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral to perform a protest song entitled, "Holy Sh*t." Shortly thereafter, an edited video of the performance that was uploaded to the Internet incited a public outcry.

Pussy Riot members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich were convicted of hooliganism and sentenced on August 17.

In accordance with the law, the sentence has not yet taken effect.