Pussy Riot detained again after release for World Cup stunt

Pussy Riot band members have been detained by Russian police as they left jail after serving a 15 day sentence for invading a Wold Cup soccer pitch.

Members of the band Pussy Riot have been taken back into custody after walking free from jail over their World Cup pitch invasion.

Members of the band Pussy Riot have been taken back into custody after walking free from jail over their World Cup pitch invasion. Source: AFP

Russian police detained four members of the Pussy Riot punk group immediately after they were released from custody, having served 15 days for invading the pitch at the World Cup final in Moscow.

An AFP reporter saw activists Veronika Nikulshina, Olga Kuracheva and Olga Pakhtusova celebrate their release before being forced into a police van seconds later.

No explanation was given to journalists. 
Pussy Riot member Veronika Nikulshina attends a hearings in a court in Moscow.
Pussy Riot member Veronika Nikulshina attends a hearings in a court in Moscow. Source: AFP


The fourth activist Pyotr Verzilov, released from a different Moscow detention centre, tweeted that he was detained by riot police and driven to a police station next to Luzhniki stadium where the group was originally brought to after their World Cup stunt. 




"They (the police) say they will leave us under arrest for the night," he tweeted. 

Pakhtusova tweeted a video from inside a police van, saying authorities accused the group of breaking the law on public gatherings. 

"Right at the exit of the detention centre they accused us of breaking the 20.2 law (on public gatherings). They did not say anything, they just put us in a van and drove us away," she said. 

Olga Pakhtusova, a member of the feminist protest group Pussy Riot, is led out of jail and into a police van in Moscow.
Olga Pakhtusova, a member of the feminist protest group Pussy Riot, is led out of jail and into a police van in Moscow. Source: AFP


A Moscow court earlier this month sentenced the activists to 15 days in police cells and also banned them from visiting sports events for three years. 

The four ran onto the pitch at Moscow's Luzniki stadium in the second half of the World Cup final between France and Croatia, watched by President Vladimir Putin and world leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron. 

 
Stewards pull a member of Pussy Riot off the pitch after she stormed onto the field and interrupted the final match between France and Croatia.
Stewards pull a member of Pussy Riot off the pitch after she stormed onto the field and interrupted the final match between France and Croatia. Source: AFP


They said it was a protest against Putin and issued a list of political demands, including freeing political prisoners and ending arrests at peaceful rallies. 




Pussy Riot is most famous for performing an anti-Putin protest song in a central Moscow church in February 2012.

Three of the group's members were convicted of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" at a trial that attracted global media attention and drew protests from rights groups.

Group members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina were released after serving 22 months of their two-year sentences. The other convicted member Yekaterina Samutsevich was given a suspended sentence.


Share
2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AFP, SBS


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world