Reykjavik Mayor Jon Gnarr atop a van decorated with the words "Free Pussy Riot" during the city's yearly gay-pride festival.
Reykjavik Mayor Jon Gnarr rode through the streets of the Icelandic capital in a bright pink dress and matching balaclava to add his voice to calls to free three Pussy Riot rockers facing seven years in a Russian jail for an anti-government performance.
In a brief video posted on YouTube, Gnarr is seen waving his arms atop a van decorated with the words "Free Pussy Riot." One of the group's songs, "Clear the Cobblestones," a likely reference to Red Square, can be heard playing from speakers mounted on the van.
Gnarr, formerly an actor and comedian, made the gesture Saturday during Rekyavik's yearly gay-pride festival, which ran Aug. 7 to 12.
The Reykjavik mayor's colorful protest came the same day as Icelandic musician Bjork published a statement expressing sympathy for Pussy Riot on her site, saying she understood the defendants "as a musician and a mother."
In the statement, Bjork invited the three band members — who could be sentenced Aug. 17 at Moscow's Khamovnichesky District Court — to join her on stage to perform a song calling for greater justice.
Russian authorities' attempts to prosecute Pussy Riot rockers for a song criticizing President Vladimir Putin in a Moscow cathedral have drawn a stinging response from Russian cultural figures, international rights activists and politicians.
