RETRANSMISSION FOR ALTERNATIVE CROP - Feminist punk group Pussy Riot members, from left, Maria Alekhina, Yekaterina Samutsevich, center, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova sit in a glass cage at a court room in Moscow, Wednesday. Oct. 10, 2012. Moscow appeals court freed Yekaterina Samutsevich of jailed band Pussy Riot but upheld a prison sentence for Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina. The judge ruled that Yekaterina Samutsevich's sentence should be suspended because she was thrown out of the cathedral by guards before she could take part in the performance.(AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)
RETRANSMISSION FOR ALTERNATIVE CROP - Feminist punk group Pussy Riot members, from left, Maria Alekhina, Yekaterina Samutsevich, center, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova sit in a glass cage at a court room in Moscow, Wednesday. Oct. 10, 2012. Moscow appeals court freed Yekaterina Samutsevich of jailed band Pussy Riot but upheld a prison sentence for Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina. The judge ruled that Yekaterina Samutsevich's sentence should be suspended because she was thrown out of the cathedral by guards before she could take part in the performance.(AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)
Freed feminist punk group Pussy Riot member Yekaterina Samutsevich speaks outside a court in Moscow, Wednesday Oct. 10, 2012. A Moscow appeals court on Wednesday unexpectedly freed one of the jailed Pussy Riot members, but upheld the two-year prison sentence for the two others jailed for an irreverent protest against President Vladimir Putin. The Moscow City Court ruled that Yekaterina Samutsevich?s sentence should be suspended because she was thrown out of the cathedral by guards before she could remove her guitar from its case and take part in the performance. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)
A policeman watches band member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova speaking on a TV screen in a hall outside a court room of the Moscow City Court where three members of the punk band Pussy Riot are set to make their case before a Russian appeals court that they should not be imprisoned, in Moscow, Wednesday. Oct. 10, 2012. Their impromptu performance inside Moscow's main cathedral in February came shortly before Putin was elected to a third term. The three women were convicted in August of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred and sentenced to two years in prison. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)
MOSCOW (AP) ? Russian judges who ruled to keep two of the three Pussy Riot band members behind bars have defended their decision, saying it was made independently and without pressure.
Moscow City Court on Wednesday had upheld a district court ruling to send Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina to prison for two years, but released Yekaterina Samutsevich after giving her a suspended sentence.
Judge Larisa Polyakova told reporters Thursday the panel of judges had deemed "correction of Tolokonnikova and Alekhina" impossible outside prison. She denied that there was any pressure on the judges.
Pussy Riot staged an impromptu punk performance against President Vladimir Putin at Moscow's main cathedral in February. The three women were convicted of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred but say their stunt was political.
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