MOSCOW, August 7 – RAPSI. Pleadings for the Pussy Riot trial are expected to start at Moscow’s Khamovnichesky District Court on Tuesday; the band members stand accused of having engaged in hooliganism at the Christ the Savior Cathedral.

Judge Marina Syrova, the presiding judge, was ready to hear pleadings on Monday, but the prosecutor asked for more time to prepare.
Four witnesses took the stand during the trial.

The defense team and the lawyer for the aggrieved parties filed for the judge’s recusal on several occasions. In total, the defense filed seven motions to recuse the judge; all of them dismissed.

Additionally, Pussy Riot’s attorneys requested that the judge grant them time to call witnesses, but the judge dismissed all of their requests.

During pleadings, the prosecution will submit its position on the term of punishment for the defendants.

A video broadcast of the hearing, which was prohibited during the witnesses’ interrogation, is set to resume.

Attorney Violetta Volkova had previously requested the removal of all restrictions regarding the video stream, which, in her mind, ensured impartial proceedings. Other defense attorneys supported her.

The prosecution maintains that publicity might only hinder the hearings.

Group members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina, and Yekaterina Samutsevich have remained in pretrial detention since their early March arrest for an incident that some have lauded as a valid exercise of free speech, and that others have lambasted as blasphemous. The group members face up to seven years in prison.

On February 21, five girls wearing brightly colored masks stormed the altar of central Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral to perform a protest song entitled, "Holy Sh*t." A video with their performance that was posted on the Internet incited a public uproar.