Yoko Ono is the latest celebrity to openly support the jailed Russian punk band Pussy Riot.<br/> <br />SOUNDBITE: Yoko Ono, saying (English)<br/> <br />"I thank Pussy Riot for standing firmly in their belief of freedom of expression and making all women of the world proud to be women and I am too."<br/> <br />The widow of late Beatles' musician John Lennon awarded the group with the LennonOno Peace grant in New York.<br/> <br />Piotr Verzilov, husband of jailed band member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and their four-year-old daughter accepted the award.<br/> <br />Three band members were sentenced to two years in jail in August after staging a "punk prayer" in Moscow's main cathedral.<br/> <br />The ruling has fueled new protests on Russian soil and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has called for their release.<br/> <br />A court appeal is scheduled for October 1.
