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Yevgeny Feldman / AFP - Getty Images
Supporters of Pussy Riot hold individual letters that spell the phrase "Blessed are the merciful" outside the Church of Christ the Savior in central Moscow on Wednesday.
MOSCOW -- Security guards scuffled with masked protesters who demonstrated outside Moscow's main cathedral on Wednesday in support of three members of Pussy Riot, as a wave of global support for the Russian punk rockers gained speed.
Witnesses said 18 demonstrators in colorful balaclavas -- similar to those worn by the band members when they staged an irreverent protest at the same church -- mounted the steps of Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral and held up black cards with white letters spelling out the phrase, "Blessed are the merciful."
Guards moved swiftly to disperse the demonstrators and treated some of them roughly, Internet TV channel Dozhd reported. Pussy Riot supporters said on social media that at least two people had been detained.
A Moscow court is to issue a verdict on Friday following the trial of the three women who sang a "punk prayer" on the altar of Christ the Savior -- Moscow's main cathedral -- in February, calling on the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Vladimir Putin, then prime minister and now president.
Prosecutors want the judge to convict Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Maria Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred and sentence each to three years in prison.
Putin has said the women should not be judged too harshly, but he risks appearing weak if they walk free.
Winning over hearts abroad
Since their arrests, the women have been vilified by the Russian state media -- while winning over hearts abroad.
Supporters of the band will mobilize this week in at least a two dozen cities worldwide to hold simultaneous demonstrations an hour before the court issues its verdict.
Russia's Pussy Riot: Unmasked and on trial
Calls for the women to be freed have come from a long list of celebrities such as Madonna and Bjork. Protests have been held in a number of Western capitals, including Berlin, where last week about 400 people joined Canadian electro-pop performance artist Peaches to support the band.
Three female punk rockers are put on trial in Russia after taking over the pulpit at an Orthodox cathedral and performing a controversial song criticizing President Putin. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
In one of the most extravagant displays, Reykjavik Mayor Jon Gnarr rode through the streets of the Icelandic capital in a Gay Pride parade this weekend dressed like a band member -- wearing a bright pink dress and matching balaclava -- while lip-synching to one of Pussy Riot's songs.
PhotoBlog: Pussy Riot fans wear balaclavas to rally behind band
Amnesty International has called the women prisoners of conscience and begun collecting signatures by text message for a petition to be sent to the Russian government, while the U.S. State Department has repeatedly expressed its concern.
Madonna donned a balaclava during a concert in Moscow last week and had "Pussy Riot" written on her bare back. Yoko Ono sent a personal message to Samutsevich, saying that "the power of your every word is now growing in us."
Pop star Madonna has joined the chorus of criticism over the trial of a Russian women's punk band accused of religious hatred. The three women face years in jail after mounting a protest against Vladimir Putin on the altar of the country's main cathedral. It's part of a widening government crackdown on dissent. ITV's Paul Davies reports.
A group of leading British musicians, including Pete Townshend of the Who and members of the Pet Shop Boys, published a letter in The Times of London ahead of Putin's visit during the Olympics to urge him to give the Pussy Riot members a fair hearing.
On Friday, activists in more than a dozen cities, from Moscow to Toronto, are expected to take to the streets at 2 p.m. Moscow time (4 a.m. ET), an hour before the judge is to issue the verdict. The protests are being coordinated by the defense lawyers.
Venues vary from the square outside the ornate Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona to the yard outside the Russian Embassy in London.
More Russia coverage from NBCNews.com
In Paris, the protest will be held on Stravinsky Square and led by 29-year-old Alexey Prokopyev from Russie-Libertés, a Paris-based organization formed in December to bring together Russians studying or working in France.
"Most people go to these rallies in Paris because we cannot be in Russia at the moment for various reasons -- because of jobs, classes," said Prokopyev, who was born in the Soviet Union and has spent most of the past 17 years in France. "We all wish we were in Moscow now, but since we can't we do it in Paris."
Russie-Libertés also is helping to organize rallies in Marseille, Nice, Lyons and Montpellier.
From March 2012: Anti-Putin activists pay high price, but refuse to back down
Prokopyev said that he and his peers "want Russia to be a normal country" and be able to elect a president "who doesn't make the country where we were born a laughingstock."
In New York, Friday's protest will take place outside the Russian Consulate and later on Times Square.
"It's absurd that this case is being treated as criminal, while in any other civilized country that would be merely an administrative offense," said Xenia Grubstein, a 31-year-old journalist helping to organize the New York protest.
'Serious problems' with vote that kept Putin in power, monitors say
A protest is also planned in Washington, where last month punk rockers and arts activists rallied outside the Russian Embassy.
'Putin's Russia'
In France, Culture Minister Aurelie Filippetti last week issued a statement expressing concern that artistic freedom was on trial.
Complete international news coverage on NBCNews.com
A German cross-party group of lawmakers sent a letter to the Russian ambassador calling the five months the band members have spent in custody and the possible prison terms "draconian and disproportionate" punishment.
The international press has been full of critical reports from the trial. One of Germany's most influential magazines, Der Spiegel, featured the band on its cover: a picture of Tolokonnikova behind bars and the headline "Putin's Russia."
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Eighteen demonstrators? That's more like a lunch party than a protest.
Punk rock is so last century, isn't it? Ha ha.
How is there different than here? In the U.S. we also protect private property rights.
A poorly conceived political protest executed on private property has consequences. Go figure. Why not exercise free speech in a public forum? Too little notoriety obviously.
Having said that, 5 months is a bit much for what I saw in the video. Let them go with time served.
What would happen to these women if they performed a punk prayer at the Western Wall or in Mecca? My guess Jews or Muslims would stone them to death right there on the spot. These girls are lucky to be alive and their 3 year prison sentence is a complete victory for their legal team!
Without paraphrasing the entire quote, it was said about WWII and the Nazis: :...I was not one of them so I did not say anything, and then they came after me and there was no one left to fight..." One injustice in anywhere, anytime in the world is one too many, and more often than not, no one seems to care or do anything, and the result is more injustice, harsher injustice, simmering hatred, long held grudges, and revenge, bringing on more injustice. This time, it is nice to see the huge amount of support fot these three ladies who have done nothing more than cause a minor disturbance, something we would call a misdemeanor, an illegal act of harmless tresspassing resulting in a small fine and maybe probation. We in the west, attempt to have rule of law, not rule of men, so we try to enforce it fairly, even though, in reality, we all know how messed up the court system is. So, yeah, maybe they did SOMETHING illegal, but NOTHING coming close to jail time. Putin is a KGB carryover who won't let go of power or privilege and this is just another way to crush any dissent or opposition. The worst part is the SILENCE OF THE CHURCH, which tells you RELIGION is dogmatic and ideological. IF they, or any church had power over civil society, we would have a christian version or Iran, or Pakistan, or Afghanistan, or worse it, a return of the Middle Ages. Shame on them for not speaking up for these girls and helping them. Putin and the Church belong together, back in old Communist Russia, where the church was squashed with an iron fist.
I guess that Putin and his state thugs have been successful in scaring most of the people. Instead of protesting the state they should be protesting or tearing down the real criminals, the church. One thing the communist had right was the description of religion as a drug of the ignorant. Putin has been smarter. He gives them the drug so they will put up with the beatings from his thug state.
Just remember that Putin is Ex-KGB but not that "EX". He has continued to be a thug and always will be. Want a reason not to travel to Russia...its things like this that remind us that the country is still a strongly communist state and your innocent acts could put you in the gulag. Just a hair ahead of China and cant hold a candle to North Korea but Putin is no friend of the U.S. or of freedom
are you people, nuts? this is plain simple act of hooliganism. punk girls disrupting church service and you all and whole western world supports them!! way to go. what would happen if same girls would do that in any church in america without permission??? they want to protest?they can do it anywhere outside. do not do it in the place where regular people do not want to see you. where are your morals, people? i can't believe you are supporting "punks"!
If this happened in America, they would be arrested with a distrubing the peace fine and a protection order placed against these knuckleheads to not go anywhere around this facility again. This is proof of the freedoms we have in America. If people think they deserve better treatment, they should have told them to do this in a country with real citizen freedom. Other citizens could have kicked their A$$ for disrupting church. Madonna wants to live in other countries, bad mouths America but wants others to be treated as if they lived here. Life is not all peachy across the pond in any direction. Stop worrying about what poor choices a group of people made in a political stunt and start being concerned about the downward trend our own nation is in. If you want to support folks in that nation, move there so our votes here will start to matter again.
Ahhhhhhhhh The variety of perspectives! ...... was it just the human exuberance of youth that all drives the adolescent to rebel? It harmed no one but did inconvenience a few .... as a random traffic stop does to us as adults when it occurs. It seems that inconveniences that are state or government oriented, are ones that we must accept as a society .... But inconveniences brought on by individuals upon us are unacceptable .... and punished by law.
As our country turns more perceptibly toward a Fascist oriented state, to give you more false "Security" ... some of us remember what "Liberty" really was ...
I remember when .................... I could protest without a permit
Madonna's dumb stupid comments are a joke. This dimwit would crush, kill your grandmother for a dollar. Like she has done so many times before.
If they wanted to protest they could have done so OUTSIDE of the church. I'm sure the faithful where just overjoyed to hear @!$%#ty punk music while trying to pray. Now if it was metal I could see it.
For desecrating a sacred place of worship, we should make these people HEROES??? Are you kidding me? Try that exact same crap in a synagogue or mosque, and I'd almost guarantee you that these people wouldn't be praised as heroes but judged as hatemongers. But hey, it's just a Christian church; do what you like! What a bunch of crap! Jail those women!
If it is against Putin some idiots here consider anything heroic and justified.
"A group of leading British musicians, including Pete Townshend of the Who and members of the Pet Shop Boys, published a letter in The Times of London"
Meaning "A group of has been British musicians, including Pete Townshend of the Who and members of the Pet Shop Boys, published a letter in The Times of London"