Pussy Riot video banned in Russia (VIDEO)

GlobalPost

A court in Moscow banned video clips of the female punk band Pussy Riot from being posted on websites on Thursday, calling the clips "extremist."

According to the BBC, one of the banned clips includes an anti-Kremlin song which the band performed in February. The same song, called "Punk Prayer," led to the band being put on trial and two of the members are currently in jail.

Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova are serving two-year prison sentences for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred," according to The Atlantic. A third member, Yekaterina Samutsevich, was freed last month after winning an appeal.

The Zamoskvorechye District Court ruled that access to websites hosting four videos by Pussy Riot should be limited. If websites do not remove the listed videos, they will face administrative penalties, including fines up to $3,000, according to The Atlantic.

More on GlobalPost: What is Pussy Riot?

Google's representative Alla Zabrovskaya told Agence France Presse that its subsidiary YouTube would need to receive the court's written order before making a decision on the matter.

AFP noted that materials, like the four Pussy Riot videos, which have been deemed "extremist" are put on a black list by the Russian justice ministry. The list has about 1,500 items currently, most of which are related to banned ultra-nationalist, religious and fascist groups.

Critics have accused the Kremlin of using Russia's vague "extremism" law to stifle free speech and the opposition, according to the Associated Press.

In the video "Punk Prayer," the band was protesting President Vladimir Putin's impending third term, which had been endorsed by the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church.

More on GlobalPost: Pussy Riot member asks for solitary confinement

Watch Pussy Riot's "Punk Prayer" below:

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