16 March, V. Legoida, the head of ROC's information service, announced that the church does not exerts pressure or intervene the trial. On the official news-page of the ROC, he stated that 'all public calls to punish the women of the band, as well as the calls to release them and close the case, are nothings more but the ways of exerting pressure on the investigation", he said. "We condemn any aggressive actions towards the women, however, we demand the fair trial". He also stated that if the detained women are willing to confess to the priest, the church will send one to the prison, however, the confession has to be sincere and not for PR purposes in the front of cameras. He also added that such cases are not unknown in the religious history and compared the Russian Church with Vatican, when Paul II visited the convicted Turkish terrorist Ali Agzha in his prison-cell

source (ROC Official News): http://www.pravmir.ru/v-russkoj-cerkvi-ne-vliyali-i-ne-budut-vliyat-na-x...