TODAY: Pussy Riot appeal today, Church suggests would support lighter sentence if group ‘repent’; Ponomaryov banned from speaking in the Duma for a month; lawmakers push for strong Internet controls; Georgian opposition candidate suspected of Russia links; USAID ceases operations; AAR hires bank for TNK-BP bid; pensions and World Cup finance.

A Moscow court is hearing the appeal by the three jailed members of protest group Pussy Riot today.  The Orthodox Church has called on the women to repent, suggesting that it would support a reduced sentence ‘if any words of the convicts indicate repentance’.  A theatre in Rostov has dropped a production of the musical Jesus Christ Superstar following Orthodox protests.  The government’s working group wants extreme rules on restricting Internet content, pushing for blocking whole websites featuring restricted content, rather than individual web pages.  Lawmakers have voted in favour of barring opposition Deputy Ilya Ponomaryov (creator of the now famous ‘crooks and thieves’ accolade for United Russia) from speaking in the Duma for a month.  Ponomaryov writes in the Moscow Times about his dismissal.  Lawyers for four Other Russia activists convicted of inciting riots in Moscow have appealed to the European Court of Human Rights.