Maria Alyokhina, jailed member of Russian punk band Pussy Riot, looks out from a defendants' box as she attends a court hearing in Nizhny Novgorod, October 18, 2013. Alyokhina withdrew her plea for an early release on Friday in a show of support for a bandmate now in hospital after going on hunger strike to protest over prison conditions. REUTERS/Roman Yarovitsyn
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A prison amnesty that President Vladimir Putin has portrayed as an act of mercy and could free members of punk band Pussy riot came a step closer on Tuesday when Russian Members of Parliament gave it preliminary approval.
Putin submitted his proposal last week for the amnesty to mark the 20th anniversary of Russia's post-Soviet constitution, after long debate about how many it would free and whether it would apply to inmates his critics call political prisoners.
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