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Russian prosecutors are looking into whether two of the punk band Pussy Riot’s members were arrested on charges of insulting the President, the Kremlin said Tuesday.
The charges were announced after a Russian court issued an arrest warrant for members of the feminist punk group for the March 2016 protests in Moscow, in which a performance by singer Maria Alyokhina was held up by security officials.
Alyokhkin was found guilty of inciting a riot, and she has denied the charges, and was released on bail in September.
The verdicts came as Pussy Raids leader Maria Alyotova traveled to Moscow for a meeting with the prosecutor general, the Interfax news agency reported.
The two men were detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport on March 19 and released a day later. “
The investigation will continue,” he added.
The two men were detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport on March 19 and released a day later.
Alyokheva was arrested on suspicion of inciting “incitement of hatred” and violating the countrys laws on religious freedoms, Interfax reported.
Pankov said the court has ordered prosecutors to “continue with their investigations” into the case.
“We are waiting for the court’s decision,” Panko said.
“We hope that the case will be closed in the coming days,” he said.
The arrest of Pussy Raider Maria Alyomakina and the subsequent trial of the other two activists on charges relating to a political protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin were seen as an attack on the rights of Russian Orthodox Christians, which Russia considers an enemy of the state.
Russia has jailed more than 20,000 people for protesting since the protests against Putin began in late 2012.
The protesters were arrested during the 2013 Moscow Winter Olympics.
In response, Russia’s Orthodox Church and other religious groups have called for Alyokhrina and her co-defendants to be released.
