Sergey Ponomarev/AP Photo

An appeals court in Moscow has suspended the sentence for one member of the Russian feminist punk group Pussy Riot, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. Two other members of the group had their sentences upheld.

The three women were sentenced to two years in prison in August for performing a "punk prayer" on the altar of Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral in February, in which they begged for divine intervention to rid Russia of President Vladimir Putin.

Yekaterina Samutsevich's sentence was suspended by the judge because she was thrown out of the church before she could take part in the performance. The Associated Press reported. The jail sentences against Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were upheld.

"Any decision that shortens the wrongful detention of the three women is welcome. But no-one should be fooled - justice has not been done today. The government has introduced numerous new restrictions to freedom of expression in recent months. As this decision demonstrates, Russia's judiciary is unlikely to offer much protection to those who fall foul of them", David Diaz-Jogeix, Europe and Central Asia Deputy Program Director of Amnesty International said.

In comments broadcast last Sunday Putin said he thought the sentence was justified.

The case of the three women was seen as a bellwether of the Kremlin's patience with an unprecedented protest movement, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets calling on Putin to go. Since Putin's inauguration for a third term as president in May, lawmakers from his United Russia have ushered in a string of laws restricting freedoms in Russia. That new legislation along with the case of the three young women was seen as an effort to intimidate Russia's opposition.

The trial of the three young feminists attracted worldwide attention and calls for their release from artists including Madonna, Sting, and Paul McCartney.

Before the verdict was handed down in August, Putin himself said he did not believe the women should be treated too harshly. They faced a maximum of seven years in prison on charges of "hooliganism."

Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev has called the trio's detention "unproductive," but his influence is in question after several recent public disagreements with Putin.

Dueling protests took place outside the courtroom on Oct. 1, with religious opponents of the group carrying Russian Orthodox icons pitted against their supporters brandishing the group's trademark colorful balaclavas. Protests in support of the group were planned around the world today as well.

In an interview from jail published in GQ magazine, one of the young women said their arrest has only drawn attention to their cause against Putin's government.

"We couldn't even imagine that the authorities would be so dumb that they would actually legitimize our influence by arresting us," Nadezhda "Nadya" Tolokonnikova, 22, said in response to questions that the magazine said had been "smuggled" into the jail through the group's lawyers. One woman's answers, the magazine, said, was confiscated.