Jailed Pussy Riot members to be released

December 19, 2013 12:08

Punk band members are to be freed from Russian prison after amnesty deal is agreed

Pussy Riot's Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina will be freed from prison in Russia within days, it has been reported.

The feminist punk collective's members were given two-year sentences in August 2012 after their now infamous "punk prayer" protest at Moscow's Cathedral Of Christ The Savior. They were taken to a prison camp in Berniki in the remote Ural Mountains.

The Guardian reports that Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina are being set free as part of an amnesty approved by Russia's parliament yesterday (December 18) to mark the 20th anniversary of Russia's post-Soviet constitution. It's believed that the amnesty has been announced in an effort to improve Russia's image ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics, which begin in Sochi in January.

The amnesty will lead to the freeing of 500,000 prisoners, including the 'Arctic 30' Greenpeace protesters who were arrested earlier this year when some of the activists tried to scale Russia's first offshore oil platform.

"It's a very narrow amnesty. I'm very glad it applies to my clients," said Pussy Riot's lawyer Irina Khrunova to Reuters.

Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina were both due to be released in June, having served some of their sentence prior to their trial. Speaking to The Guardian, Petya Verzilov, Tolokonnikova's husband says: "They are slightly sceptical of course. When you're living in these conditions it's hard to think about the Duma passing some bill, and it seems like it could never happen, so it's a big surprise for them that it does actually seem to be happening."

Earlier this year Alyokhina went on hunger strike to protest prison conditions, demanding officials got rid of the locks on the doors of workshops. She spoke to NME from prison in June, revealing that she didn't expect to be released before 2014.

The amnesty which should see Tolokonnikova and Alyokina's release is backed by Russia's president, Vladimir Putin. It mainly concerns first-time offenders, minors and women with small children with some activist complaining the group of people freed is not large enough.

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U.S. rapper Gucci Mane jailed for alleged assault

ATLANTA | Wed Mar 27, 2013 4:47pm EDT

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Rapper Gucci Mane was jailed in Georgia on Wednesday for allegedly hitting a fan in the head with a champagne bottle at an Atlanta nightclub earlier this month.

Mane, whose real name is Radric Davis, turned himself in to authorities late on Tuesday, according to Fulton County Sheriff's Office records.

Mane, 33, faces an aggravated assault charge after causing a "severe laceration" to the man whom he hit with a champagne bottle on March 16, according to a police report. The fan had approached Mane and tried to strike up a conversation, police said. Mane left the nightclub before police arrived.

A magistrate judge denied bond for Mane at his first court appearance on Wednesday, sheriff's spokeswoman Tracy Flanagan said.

Mane did not enter a plea. His next hearing will be on April 10, Flanagan said.

Mane's attorney, Drew Findling, told Reuters he would appeal the denial of bond to a higher court. He said six witnesses interviewed by his office about what he described as a melee at the club did not pin blame on the rapper.

"None of them said Gucci had anything to do with it," Findling said.

The incident is the latest in a long string of legal troubles for the rapper, who has appeared in remixes with the Black Eyed Peas and Usher.

In 2001, Mane was arrested for cocaine possession and spent 90 days in jail. He served a six-month prison term in 2005 for assault, and in 2009 was imprisoned for a year for violating probation in that case.

A Georgia judge sentenced Mane to six months in jail in 2011 after he admitted to pushing a woman out of his car.

(Reporting by David Beasley; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Bernadette Baum and Leslie Adler)

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Rapper Tone Loc jailed in domestic violence case (AP)

BURBANK, Calif. – The rapper Tone Loc has been arrested on suspicion of felony domestic violence in Southern California.

Burbank police Sgt. Tracy Sanchez says 45-year-old Anthony Smith was arrested Saturday. That's Tone Loc's real name.

Sanchez could not confirm that the man arrested is Tone Loc, but Smith's birthdate and description in Los Angeles County jail records match those of the rapper. Sanchez also could not provide any details about the alleged victim or the circumstances.

Smith was being held in a Burbank jail on $50,000 bail.

A message left for Smith's agent Sunday was not immediately returned, and police could not say if he had hired an attorney.

Tone Loc is best known for the 1989 hip-hop hits "Wild Thing" and "Funky Cold Medina."

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