Waiting for the Verdict on Day 8 of Pussy Riot Trial

Cameramen and photographers massing outside the courtroom, where the trial of three Pussy Riot rockers facing seven years in jail entered its eighth day Wednesday. Courtroom staff only allotted three minutes for a Moscow Times photo journalist to film inside the courtroom.

The three defendants sitting in a glass cage in the Khamovnichesky District Court. The three women have been in detention since early March for an anti-government performance in Moscow's main cathedral.

Looking calm, the three defendants relax before the start of Wednesday's court session. The judge is set to give her verdict in the controversial case Aug. 17.

Outside the Khamovnichesky District Court, an activist holds a one-man picket in support of the defendants. His placard reads, "Judge Syrova: Either honor today, or shame for your whole life!"

The defendants —? Maria Alyokhina, 24, Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22 — cracking a smile for the cameras as they trudge to the courtroom with their police guards.