The dramatic predicament of radical Russian punk collective Pussy Riot has become an international cause, drawing high-profile supporters like Madonna and Björk. The poignant image of Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich awaiting their fate in a glass cage in a Moscow courtroom seems a visual archetype of vulnerability and defiance. The closing statements delivered by two of them -- which quoted famous Russian poets and philosophers -- seemed like something out of a movie.

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But for some Russian expats living in the United States, the Pussy Riot trial is more than a trendy cause. It's a microcosm of Russia's political troubles under Vladimir Putin -- a magic mirror that reflects every political and social issue besetting their homeland.

"This is an extraordinary case, of course," said Alex Goldfarb, a Russian expat living in New York, in a phones interview with Wired. "It's like a crystal ball -- the whole of Russia, current Russian problems and issues is reflected there."

The three women were arrested in early March, after staging a 40-second anti-Putin "punk prayer" in Moscow's Church of Christ the Savior in February. In early June, they formally faced charges for their flash-mob punk performance in an indictment that was nearly 3,000 pages long. On Friday, they are widely expected to face a prison sentence of at least three years.

Goldfarb, a longtime activist, set up Pussy Riot’s legal fund in the United States soon after their arrest in March. He raised about $20,000 in a PayPal account, and has now passed on the fund to a California-based charity, the Voice Project, which will continue collecting funds on Pussy Riot's behalf.

Several collections across the world were taken up to support Pussy Riot's legal bills. "It’s a big legal process,” Goldfarb said. “Nobody’s expecting acquittal, so there will probably be an appeal, and after that it will go all the way to the European court of human rights in Strasbourg, which is a long and painful process."

Goldfarb said he was inspired by the three women of Pussy Riot -- and the strength they displayed in the face of imprisonment. "The grace and courage and intelligence with which they handled themselves, is all amazing of course," Goldfarb said.

Russian expats who were never politically active before were also motivated by Pussy Riot’s predicament.

Zarina Zabrisky, a Russian-born writer living in San Francisco, is organizing a day of action on Friday morning, in front of the San Francisco Russian embassy -- one of dozens of protests in support of Pussy Riot happening in cities across the globe.

She never considered herself to be particularly politically active -- until now.

“I’ve never organized any political protest in my life,” she said in a phones interview with Wired.

Zabrisky said she was “astonished by the greatness” of the three women, who motivated her to act. “I thought, well, if those girls can do it, I certainly can do it," Zabrisky said. "I'm older, I'm stronger, I'm in America.... Hopefully no one will put me in jail.”

Marina Galperina, a Russian-born journalist and art editor at Animal New York, has devoted considerable time to writing about Pussy Riot. Early on Friday morning, she will be covering the verdict from the United States, translating Russian statements for the English-speaking public.

Galperina views Pussy Riot as activists and performance artists, pointing to their ties with the radical Russian art collective Voina.

"I think the Russian people can tell that they're activists.... This is not just a band doing a shtick," Galperina said.

Galperina said that the charge of “hooliganism” leveled against the three women of Pussy Riot was a common way of quelling free speech in Russia. "Those articles and codes are being used for censoring protests, and censoring dissent, and preventing any form of disagreement with the status quo," Galperina said.

Nadya Lev, a Russian-born writer and designer, and co-founder of the magazine Coilhouse: A Love Letter to Alternative Culture, says free-speech issues in Russia have worsened dramatically in recent months.

“There's no true freedom of assembly in Russia, fines for protesting 'illegally' have just gone up exponentially, and Putin just passed a law that will enable Russian government to censor the Internet,” Lev said in an e-mail interview. “They want to make an example of Pussy Riot, which is why they didn't care to give this trial even the faintest semblance of fairness.”

Galperina said that Pussy Riot’s support of gay rights in Russia, in their lyrics and in their actions, made them even more courageous.

“They have participated in gay pride parades, which are illegal in parts of Russia,” Galperina said. “The fact that they even stand up for this in any public way, and have those lyrics.... The fact that's even mentioned is an element in radicalism.”

Lev took it a step further. “Russia is becoming a dangerous place to be queer, feminist or left-leaning," she said. "For example, Moscow has banned gay pride parades for the next 100 years. The State Duma is currently considering a federal law that would make any public support of homosexuality illegal in Russia. This type of legislation is the product of the strong alliance between the Russian Orthodox Church and the state, which developed for the purpose of strengthening Putin's grip on the public. Patriarch Kirill, the Church's leader, tells the Russian people that Putin is ‘sent from God.’ In this climate, Pussy Riot's performance, which criticized this phenomenon, cut to the quick.”

The fate of the three women of Pussy Riot hangs in the balance.

"On one hand, if [Putin] backs down and lets them out, he'll look like a loser, especially after a tremendous noisy international campaign," Goldfarb said. "It’ll look like he's defeated by the likes of Madonna and Björk, and that's extremely humiliating -- especially for a macho type like Putin.

“On the other hand, it's extremely clear that if he sends them to prison, the protests will mount, the pressure will mount,” he said.