MOSCOW (AP) — A judge found three members of the provocative punk band Pussy Riot guilty of hooliganism today, in a case that has drawn widespread international condemnation as an emblem of Russia’s intolerance of dissent.

The judge said the three band members “committed hooliganism driven by religious hatred” and offended religious believers. The three were arrested in March after a guerrilla performance in Moscow’s main cathedral calling for the Virgin Mary to protect Russia against Vladimir Putin, who was elected to a new term as Russia’s president two weeks later.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 23; Maria Alekhina, 24; and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, face a maximum seven years in prison, although the prosecutors asked for a three-year sentence. The judge was still reading a synopsis of the case, but the sentence could be handed down at any time.

Putin himself has said he hopes the sentencing is not “too severe.”

Even if the women are sentenced only to time already served, the case has already strongly clouded Russia’s esteem overseas and stoked the resentment of opposition partisans who have turned out in a series of massive rallies since last winter.

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