DHAKA: The Russian parliament on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to a wide-ranging amnesty which could free the imprisoned members of the Pussy Riot punk band as early as this week.

The lower house of parliament, or State Duma, unanimously passed the amnesty act in its first reading, Russian news agencies reported. An amended version is to be voted in a final, second, reading Wednesday, the Duma noted on its website.

Irina Khrunova, the lawyer for imprisoned Pussy Riot members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, said that if the amnesty is passed and published by Thursday, her clients could walk out of prison the same day.

‘If everything goes according to plan, they will be freed immediately,’ she said, reports The Voice of Russia.

BDST: 1829 HRS, DEC 17, 2013
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor