Four Pussy Riot activists, including Maria Alyokhina, sentenced to 15 days in jail
Moscow’s Kunetsevsky District Court has sentenced Pussy Riot activist Maria Alyokhina to 15 days in jail after finding her guilty of disobeying a police officer, lawyer Olga Karlova told Interfax on Wednesday, June 23.
Earlier, Karlova reported that Alyokhina had been detained “for allegedly planning to carry out a protest action” on the anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War and for violating the terms of her house arrest. Alyokhina maintains that she isn’t guilty.
Three other Pussy Riot activists — Lyusya Shtein, Anna Kuzminykh, and Alexander Sofeev — were also handed 15-day jail sentences on Wednesday. Shtein and Kuzminykh were found guilty of disobeying police; Sofeev was found guilty of petty hooliganism.
The court also gave 15-day jail sentences to activist Olga Shalina and photographer Dmitry Vorontsov — who were arrested alongside Alyokhina and Sofeev, respectively. Shlina was charged with disobeying police and Vorontsov with petty hooliganism.
All four Pussy Riot activists, as well as Shalina and Vorontsov, were detained over the course of the day on June 22. Earlier, on June 17, a Moscow court jailed Pussy Riot activist Veronika Nikhulshina for 15 days, also for disobeying police. According to the arrest report, law enforcement were tipped off about Nikulshina allegedly planning to disrupt the Euro 2020 soccer championship in St. Petersburg.
At the 2018 World Cup Final in Moscow, Pussy Riot members carried out an on-field protest called the “Policeman Enters the Game.” During the match, activists Veronika Nikulshina, Pyotr Verzilov, Olga Pakhtusova, and Olga Kuracheva ran on the field at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium dressed in police uniforms. The activists were subsequently fined and jailed.
