MOSCOW, October 15 - RAPSI, Diana Gutsul. Novosibirsk resident Irina Ruzankina has contested a Moscow district court's ruling to turn down her lawsuit against the convicted Pussy Riot members for moral damages, her lawyer told RAPSI on Monday.

The Kuntsevsky District Court dismissed her claims in September. Two similar lawsuits were rejected on October 3.

Violetta Volkova, who represents two of the convicted Pussy Riot members, told RAPSI that all the claims against the group have so far been turned down. Twelve lawsuits have been prepared, while nine claimants have opted against going to court, she said.

Earlier, Konstantin Zinovyev, a managing partner at the Ryabinina, Zinovyev and Krestyanov law firm, told RIA Novosti that several Novosibirsk residents had sued Pussy Riot for moral damages after watching a video of their punk-style prayer in Moscow's Christ the Savior Church.

On February 21, 2012 five girls wearing brightly colored masks stormed the altar of downtown Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral to perform a protest song entitled, "Holy Sh*t." Shortly thereafter, an edited video of the performance that was uploaded to the Internet incited a major public outcry. Early in August punk group members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina, and Yekaterina Samutsevich have been convicted of hooliganism and sentenced to 2 years in prison.

Audiences worldwide have zeroed in on the Punk Rock collective members' highly controversial arrest and detention. The controversy surrounding the Pussy Riot trial centers on the competing interests of free speech and religious sanctity.