A ruling by the European Court of Human Rights over the 2012 arrest of Pussy Riot says that the Russian government should pay members of Pussy Riot nearly €50,000 euro ($58,000) as compensation for the conditions surrounding their arrest and jailing over the 2012 "punk prayer" controversy. While it might not be the complete vindication they are seeking, the finding is no doubt a win for the protest punk rock outfit.

Billboard reports compensation is to be paid to three Pussy Riot members, Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich. Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova were handed two-year sentences for the "punk prayer" they performed at Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral in February 2012; a demonstration against Vladimir Putin's likely running for a third presidential term. Samutsevich was released on probation in October 2012. Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova were released on probation in December 2013, four months before their sentences were set to expire.

According to the ruling, there had been multiple violations of the European Convention on Human Rights. One of them, by six votes to one, violated on Article 3, which centers on prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment. It was found that Pussy Riot suffered "overcrowded conditions of the band members’ transportation to and from the courtroom to attend hearings on their cases and the humiliation of being permanently exposed in a glass dock during their hearings, surrounded by armed police officers and a guard dog, despite no evident security risk."

Another violation was of Article 10 - freedom of expression - focusing on the three band members’ conviction and prison sentences. The Court accepted that a reaction to "breaching the rules of conduct in a place of religious worship might have been warranted." However, it found that sentencing them to imprisonment for simply having worn brightly colored clothes, waved their arms and kicked their legs around and used strong language, without analyzing the lyrics of their song or the context of their performance, had been exceptionally severe. The full ruling by the European Court of Human Rights can be found at this location.

Pussy Riot was in the news again this past weekend when four of its members invaded the field during the World Cup final between France and Croatia on Sunday (July 15). For the violation, the four will spend 15 days in "administrative detention" for their actions.

10 Greatest Hard Rock + Metal Protest Anthems

Top 30 Frontmen + Frontwomen in the 21st Century

More From Rock 108