Pussy Riot members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina were reportedly taken into custody by police in Sochi, the site of the Winter Olympics. According to Consequence of Sound, the women were held for seven hours on Sunday and 10 hours on Monday for questioning over an alleged theft at their hotel room.
According to The Wall Street Journal (via NPR): "Nadezhda Tolokonnikova ['Nadya'] said by telephone from Sochi that she and Maria Alyokhina ['Masha'] had been detained by local police while they were walking along a street in the Black Sea resort Tuesday afternoon. She said they were told they were being held in relations to an alleged theft at their hotel."
The two women were in Sochi to perform a protest song called "Putin Will Teach You to Love Their Homeland," according to NPR. They hoped to call attention to the "corrupt" Olympics, inhumane prison conditions and authorities' attempt to "suppress freedoms."
NPR reports that nine people were being held and points to a tweet from an NBC reporter saying that at least three people have been released. However, there has been no sighting of Tolokonnikova or Alyokhina.
The two women were released from prison in December under a new amnesty law meant to improve Russia's image before the Sochi games. They had spent almost two years behind bars after being convicted of "hooliganism" for performing an anti-Putin protest, a "punk prayer," at Moscow's main Russian Orthodox cathedral.
Earlier this month, they spoke at Amnesty International's Bringing Human Rights Home concert and embarked on a media blitz, including a stop by The Colbert Report, to raise awareness to the inhumane Russian prison system.
We will keep you updated as more information becomes available. Let us know what you think in the comments section below!
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