Yoko Ono is the latest celebrity to openly support the jailed Russian punk band Pussy Riot.

SOUNDBITE: Yoko Ono, saying (English)

"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."

The widow of late Beatles' musician John Lennon awarded the group with the LennonOno Peace grant in New York.

Piotr Verzilov, husband of jailed band member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and their four-year-old daughter accepted the award.

Three band members were sentenced to two years in jail in August after staging a "punk prayer" in Moscow's main cathedral.

The ruling has fueled new protests on Russian soil and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has called for their release.

A court appeal is scheduled for October 1.