HELSINKI, August 20 - RAPSI. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has stated that it inadmissible to interfere in the legal process, including in the Pussy Riot case.

Western legislation also provides custodial sentences for disorderly conduct in church, he said.

Five masked members of the Pussy Riot female punk rock band performed a "punk prayer" in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in late February. A video was later posted online and caused a public outcry. A Moscow district court sentenced Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina, and Yekaterina Samutsevich to two years in prison for disorderly conduct on August 17.

"You cannot interfere in the legal process," the minister said. "You can personally agree or disagree with a judgment, but any interference is inadmissible." Lavrov made the statement during a press conference on the results of his talks with his Finnish counterpart.

"As for the sentence being proportionate or disproportionate, I can only be guided by the facts," he said. "German law provides up to three years in prison for sacrilege and blasphemy in a church, French and Finnish law - two years, as far as I can recall."