Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina freed in Russia
Maria Alyokhina, a member of Russian punk band Pussy Riot, has been freed early from prison in Russia under an amnesty, her lawyer says.
Advertisement
Her lawyers said Alyokhina was now on her way to Moscow.
The release of fellow band member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova is also expected later today.
The pair were jailed in August 2012 for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" after performing a protest song in Moscow's main cathedral.
Their sentences were due to end in March 2014, but they have known since last week that their release was imminent under an amnesty agreed by the Russian parliament.
On Friday Russian former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was also pardoned and freed after more than 10 years in prison for fraud and tax evasion.
Shadow of Olympics
"Maria Alyokhina walked out to freedom," her lawyer, Pyotr Zaikin, told the Russia's RIA Novosti news agency. "All of the documents had been completed and signed."
Another lawyer, Pavel Chikov, said: "According to the Russian legislation the colony has to buy her a ticket to the home city which is Moscow.
"So she is currently on the railway station in Nizhny Novgorod awaiting her train to Moscow."
Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova were both convicted after performing an obscenity-laced song called Punk Prayer in Moscow's Christ the Saviour cathedral in February last year.
The song was heavily critical of the Orthodox Church's support for Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling on the Virgin Mary to "throw Putin out".
A third protester, Yekaterina Samutsevich, was given the same jail term but was released on appeal in October last year. Her sentence was suspended because she had not performed the protest song with the others.
The trial and verdict were widely criticised by rights groups and foreign governments.
Ms Tolokonnikova's husband Pyotr Verzilov told the BBC that the release "was a bit of an image-lightning process for President Putin".
The women's release will be widely seen as attempt to avoid controversy overshadowing the Winter Olympics in February, due to be hosted in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Charges against 30 protesters, mostly foreign nationals, who were arrested on a Greenpeace ship may also be dropped later this week.