MOSCOW, October 12 - RAPSI. The Moscow Prosecutor's Office has received investigative materials from the Federal Penitentiary Service's Moscow branch regarding the uploading to the Internet of video footage of Pussy Riot members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina in jail, a prosecutorial source told RIA Novosti Friday.
"The materials have been delivered to the prosecutor's office. They will be examined," the source said.
The Federal Penitentiary Service has reported that the probe revealed that the video differs from the one shot by the officer on duty's video recorder.
Moscow jails are equipped with cameras. Escorting officers also have video recorders on their chest.
Earlier, New Times published on its website a video of Pussy Riot members Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina in their cells. According to the service, mobile phones and other video recording devices are prohibited in jails. A recording can only be made with the consent of the investigators and the prisoners. New Times said the detention center's employees filmed Pussy Riot during their meetings with the Public Supervisory Commission. The video was later leaked to the press.
In late February, five young women wearing brightly colored balaclavas performed a "punk-style" prayer at the altar of Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral. An edited video of their performance was posted on the Internet and caused a public outcry.
The Moscow City Court commuted Pussy Riot member Yekaterina Samutsevich's disorderly conduct sentence on Wednesday from two years in a prison colony to immediate release on probation during the group's appeal of its collective sentence for disorderly conduct motivated by religious enmity. The judge left the sentences of Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina unchanged.
In the first instance, the Khamovnichesky District Court in Moscow sentenced the Pussy Riot members to two years in prison on August 17.