French singer Mireille Mathieu has received an apology for the distortion of her remarks on the Pussy Riot case from the Russian TV-Centr TV channel.

In an interview broadcast on August 30, she was asked to comment on the punk collective’s stunt performance in Christ the Savior’s Cathedral.

According to the Russian translation, Mathieu appears to slam the women.

“I think they are insane and I condemn their action. A church is not the place for such protests. A church has always been and will remain a place where people come to see the light, where they come for the purification of the soul. It is a sacred place that needs to be respected, especially Russian churches, where one feels so much fervor and zeal.”

The statement was heavily criticized here in Russia and at home in France.

But it soon turned out that the words of the singer, so popular with Russians over decades, were not quite correctly rendered into Russian. Mathieu never called Pussy Riot "insane."

Here’s what she actually said: "I think these young women were a bit mindless to sing in a church. It's not an appropriate place. There are other ways to demonstrate. A church is a place of contemplation and respect. Here in Russia it's like a sacrilege. There is such fervor in churches here.”

But more importantly, one of the key phrases was simply left out. “But as a woman, an artist, and a Christian, I wish for clemency," she went on to say in the original soundbite.

One of the channel's senior managers, Vyacheslav Mostovoy, ruled out accusations of censorship and promised to fine the journalist who shortened the answer “at her own will”, thinking that it will not change the meaning of the statement”.

Below is her comment in French, Russia-IC apologizes for the poor quality of sound.