MOSCOW, October 18 (RAPSI) – Russian authorities have asked the European Court of Human Rights to refer a case of Pussy Riot members Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova to the Grand Chamber for reconsideration, the Justice Ministry’s statement reads.

In July, ECHR considered a complaint about the applicants’ criminal prosecution for the performance of February 21, 2012 and found violation of Article 3 (Prohibition of torture), Article 5 § 3 (Right to liberty and securit), Article 6 §§ 1 and 3 (Right to a fair trial), Article 10 (Freedom of expression) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. 

The Court ordered Russia to pay Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova 16,000 euros in compensation each and 11,760 euros in respect of costs and expenses while the applicants demanded 240,000 euros. One more Pussy Riot member Yekaterina Samutsevich was granted a 5,000-euro compensation. 

The Justice Ministry in its official statement said that ECHR refused to consider several violations of the applicants’ rights allegedly committed by Russian authorities. However, violations pointed by the Court were subject of its standard practice produced for all countries of the Council of Europe, the statement reads.

Feminist punk group Pussy Riot became known in February 2012, when Alyokhina along with four other young women wearing brightly colored balaclavas staged a punk rock prayer in Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral. An edited video of their performance was posted on the Internet and caused a public outcry.