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Four people detained at Moscow City Court building

Moscow, March 14, Interfax - Four supporters and opponents of the punk group Pussy Riot were detained near the Moscow City Court on Wednesday.

Pyotr Verzilov, an activist from the art group Voyna, told Interfax that David Abramov and two other Pussy Riot supporters have been detained.

In the meantime, about a dozen orthodox activists are conducting a picket near the court building. They are holding placards saying "Blasphemers should be punished in accordance with Article 213 of the Criminal Code." The article deals with hooliganism committed by a group of people.

Alexander Bosykh, the head of young people's projects at the Congress of Russian Communities, who opposes the punk group, has also been detained. "He was accused of attacking someone," Dmitry Pakhomov, a member of the Council of Orthodox Public Associations of the Synodal Department on Liaison between the Church and Society, said.

Supporters and opponents of Pussy Riot periodically exchange verbal spats.

Protesters and journalists continue coming to the court building.

According to earlier reports, the Moscow police on Wednesday morning tightened security near the Moscow City Court building, where the complaints about the arrest of two Pussy Riot members will be considered.

On February 21, the feminist punk group Pussy Riot gave a performance near the entrance to the altar of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The young women said their performance was "a punk prayer."

A criminal case was opened on the basis of the article of the Russian Criminal Code dealing with hooliganism. Three of the women have recently been detained, and two of them have been arrested. They have gone on hunger strike to protest their arrest. The Moscow City Court will consider their appeal on Wednesday.

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