Moscow (CNN) -- Three members of the Russian punk rock band Pussy Riot pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of hooliganism after performing a song criticizing President Vladimir Putin in a Moscow church, Russia's state news agency reported. The charge, which carries a potential seven-year sentence, stems from an unusual performance they gave in February. "Mother Mary please drive Putin away," the band screamed, their faces covered in neon masks, inside Moscow's Christ Savior Cathedral. The anonymous, feminist protest band called it a punk prayer. Three of the women were arrested soon after, and have been in custody ever since. Two of the women have young children.Pussy Riot sang an anti-Putin song in Moscow's Christ Savior CathedralThree band members face charges of hooliganism and up to seven years in prisonThey pleaded not guilty and apologized to offended Christians, RIA-Novosti saysAmnesty International says the trial "never should have taken place"
Pussy Riot is only one small part of the recent _ protest movement.