Pussy Riot members Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova have been arrested by Russian police for the second time in less than a week.
According to The Voice Project, police arrested more than 100 people — including Alyokhina, Tolokonnikova and Tolokonnikova's husband, Peter Verzilov — for "disturbing the peace" outside of a court in Moscow where seven protesters were sentenced to up to four years in prison for their involvement in the anti-Putin protests in Bolotnaya Square on May 6, 2012.
Amnesty International called the guilty verdict a "hideous injustice," claiming the hearings as a "show trial," the Guardian reports. The court had postponed the sentencing from Friday to Monday, which many believe was a publicity stunt to avoid bad press during the Sochi Winter Olympics closing ceremony.
This arrest follows a string of run-ins with Russian authorities. Last week, the two women were arrested under suspicion of theft but were eventually released. The following day, they were attacked by members of the Cossack militia when they tried to perform their anti-Putin song, "Putin Will Teach You To Love the Motherland."
© 2024 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.