MOSCOW, July 31 - RAPSI. Beloved British actor and comedian Stephen Fry has called on his Twitter followers to help the three Pussy Riot punk-group members who are facing up to seven years in prison for hooliganism in Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow.

In late February, five masked women performed a punk-style protest song at the cathedral's altar. A video of their performance was posted online and provoked a public outcry.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich were arrested.

At yesterday's hearing, Tolokonnikova called the "punk prayer" they performed an "ethical mistake," stating that she had no intention of offending anybody.
Tolokonnikova's defense attorney Violetta Volkova read out the accused's response to the indictment. The defendant said in her address that her conduct had only political and artistic motives.

The Prosecutor's Office maintains that the Pussy Riot members "inflicted substantial damage on the sacred values of the Christian ministry", "infringed upon the sacramental mystery of the Church" and "humiliated the age-old foundations of the Russian Orthodox Church with their blasphemy."

The defendants performed their song "in an extremely vulgar way for such a setting" while the song was "insulting and sacrilegious to Orthodox believers," said the Prosecutor General's Office.

"Another quick break from my twitter-holiday to urge you to do everything to help the PussyRiots," wrote Fry, whose tweets are read by over 4.611 million users.

In early July, popular musicians Faith No More, Franz Ferdinand, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Sting all expressed their support for the arrested members of Pussy Riot.