Pussy Riot’s Masha Alekhina Arrested for Attending Anti-Putin Protest

Masha Alekhina—artist, activist, and one of Pussy Riot’s founding members—was arrested for attending a massive protest critiquing Russian President Vladimir Putin last Saturday (January 23), online Russian newspaper Meduza and AP report. 

According to a representative for Pussy Riot, Alekhina was detained for 48 hours following her arrest, and is currently a suspect in a criminal case. She has been prosecuted for “violation of sanitary and epidemiological rules,” which could amount to a sentence of two years in jail. The charges stem from the rally, which drew tens of thousands of protestors and resulted in over 3,000 arrests, as The New York Times points out. Medeza states that security forces also searched Alekhina’s home.

In addition to critiquing the rule of Putin, the action was meant to show support for the jailed opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny. One of Putin’s foremost critics, Navalny presented evidence that he was poisoned by a military-grade nerve agent last year, alleging that it was enacted by the Russian government.

Numerous members of Pussy Riot, including Nadya Tolokonnikova, Peter Verzilov, and Veronika Nikulshina, have been arrested for their continual activism against Putin’s government.