With the final verdict in the Pussy Riot trial looming, the band's supporters gathered on Wednesday morning at the staircase of Christ the Saviour Cathedral, asking for forgiveness for the punk band members.

      Activists, some dressed in Pussy Riot style with masks on their faces, held up posters with letters that together read "Blessed are the merciful". The quotation from Christ's Beautitudes refers to the Russian Orthodox Church and believers who, by many accounts, went over themselves to stand up for faith and church.

      The supporters were quickly grabbed by the cathedral securities and police.

      The Pussy Riot verdict will be announced on Friday, August 17, 2012. If found guilty, the girls may be sentenced to 3 years in prison. The prosecution earlier was insisting on 7 years.