Russia criticizes EU parliament over Pussy Riot prize nomination
Russia has criticized the European Parliament for nominating three jailed members of the feminist performance-art group Pussy Riot for a human rights prize, Radio Liberty reported.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said EU lawmakers were interfering in the internal affairs of Russia by nominating the three women for the prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
The three were sentenced last month to two years in prison after staging a performance critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin at a Moscow cathedral in February.
The sentence has been widely condemned as harsh.
Also up for this year's Sakharov prize are Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi and jailed Belarusian rights defender Ales Byalyatski.
The winner from among the five nominees will be announced on October 26.
The prize is named after Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov and was established in 1988.
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