Pussy Riot members detained again just as they leave jail after World Cup protest

Four activists from the Russian protest group Pussy Riot, who were jailed earlier this month after they staged a pitch invasion of the soccer World Cup final, have been detained again just as they were released from jail in Moscow.

The activists, Pyotr Verzilov, Nika Nikulshina, Olga Kurachyova and Olga Pakhtusova had been due to be released on Monday after serving a 15-day sentence. But at the last minute were told they were being held overnight by prison authorities, Verzilov wrote in a post on his Twitter account.

The activists were then taken on Tuesday to Moscow’s Khamovnicheski court for a hearing on another charge from the World Cup protest — that of holding an unauthorised public demonstration. At the court, however, the judge said the documents submitted by police were inadequate and postponed the hearing. The activists were returned again to a police station at the Luzhniki stadium, where the soccer final had taken place, to be held again overnight, Verzilov wrote on his Twitter account.

“They are now taking us back to the police station at Luzhniki and are going to leave us again for a night, until the court,” Verzilov wrote. “Hello again one more night on a wooden bench in a cell without windows.”

In the court, the group’s lawyer Nikolai Vasilyev confirmed to reporters that the hearing was being postponed by the judge on account of the documents, the Russian site MediaZona reported.

The group has been charged over the protest that saw the four activists run onto the field dressed as police officers during the World Cup final on July 15, where France beat Croatia 4-2. The group said the demonstration was intended to protest the police and courts’ roles in the political persecution of opponents of the Kremlin.

The four sneaked into the stadium wearing the white shirt and black trousers uniform worn by police. They told a Russian website they had managed to get past security simply by shouting rudely and loudly into their mobile phones.

All four were detained by police on the field at the game, which was being watched live by president Vladimir Putin and France’s leader Emmanuel Macron. One activist managed to high-five the French star Kylian Mbappé.

The Croatian defender Dejan Lovren was less indulgent and angrily grabbed hold of Verzilov and tried to pull him down.

The activists were convicted of violating regulations on spectator behavior and were also banned from attending sporting events for three years.

Pussy Riot became globally famous after they were arrested for performing what they called a ‘punk prayer’ in Moscow’s main cathedral, the Church of Christ the Savior in 2012, where they danced and sang a song mocking Putin. Three founding members, Nadya Tolokonnikova, Mariya Alyokhina, and Ekaterina Samutsevich were jailed for two years on religious hatred charges.

The case became a cause celebré around the world, with music stars like Madonna calling for their release.

Tolokonnikova, Alyokhina and Samutsevich did not take part in the World Cup protest. Pyotr Verzilov, Tolokonnikova’s husband, helped found the group and has often acted as PR impresario for it. The group has always said it is non-hierarchical and that it has no fixed leaders or members.

During the pitch invasion protest the activists did not wear Pussy Riot’s trademark colored balaclavas, but they did don them in a video they released explaining the purpose of the action.