RUSSIA-POLITICS-MUSIC-RIGHTS-PROTEST

A member of the all-girl punk band „Pussy Riot” Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (R) is seen inside a glass-walled cage during a court hearing in Moscow on Agust 17, 2012. A Moscow court will pass judgement Friday on three women from a tiny punk band who captured global attention by defying the Russian authorities and ridiculing President Vladimir Putin in a church. Pussy Riot release rallies have stretched from Sydney to New York as a growing list of celebrities joined ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and pop icon Madonna in a campaign directed against Putin’s crackdown on most dissent. AFP PHOTO / NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA