Occupy London protesters chain themselves to St. Paul’s pulpit

Four women chained themselves to the pulpit in St Paul’s Cathedral in support of Occupy London, before cutting themselves free after being threatened with arrest, Times Live reported.

The women from the Occupy London and Christianity Uncut movements said their four-hour protest was also a show of support for the Russian punk band Pussy Riot.

London Occupy, part of an international movement inspired by the Occupy Wall Street protest that began last September, has protested against bankers’ bonuses and what they say is corporate greed.

A message on Occupy London’s Twitter feed said that the protest was in solidarity with women from Pussy Riot. Three members of the band were convicted in August after staging a cathedral protest against President Vladimir Putin.

St Paul’s said in a statement on Sunday that the women, all dressed in white, entered the cathedral during an evening prayer service and started shouting grievances against the cathedral as well as reading part of the Bible.

The women blamed St Paul’s for its “collusion with the City of London Corporation”, which they say led to the eviction of dozens of protesters in February.

A spokesman for City of London police said the women were threatened with arrest on the grounds of trespassing if they did not end their protest.

On Monday it will be a year since Occupy London first pitched some 150-200 tents outside the steps of the cathedral in the City of London in a protest that lasted four months.