Pussy Riot Trial "Medieval" Says Tycoon

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the tycoon jailed for largely political reasons, says the punk rock activists face the equivalent of a medieval inquisition

Russia's most famous prisoner said on Monday that three women from the Pussy Riot band may have gone too far by protesting on a cathedral altar, but likened their trial to a medieval inquisition and said their prison regime may amount to torture.

Former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was tried in the same Moscow courtroom as the young women, called for leniency because of their age and said the way in which they were being treated brought shame on Russia.