By The four members of Russian political punk collective Pussy Riot have been jailed for their World Cup final protest, with the four members each being sentenced to 15 days in prison at a court in Moscow. They are also banned from attending sports events for three years.
Veronica Nikulshina, Olga Kurachova, Pyotr Verzilov and Olga Pakhtusova invaded the pitch in the second half of France's win against Croatia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow to protest about Russia's lack of political competition and police accountability.
Ironically enough, they managed to get on the pitch in the first place because they had disguised themselves as police officers.
In a Facebook post, the group reiterated the points of their protest:
- Freedom for political prisoners including the imprisoned Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov. The filmmaker was sentenced to 20 years for 'terrorist acts' which Amnesty International contends he confessed to under duress before "an extremely cynical show trial".
- The end to "illegal arrests on rallies" and the beginning of greater accountability for police, who, Pussy Riot say, "fabricate criminal accusations" and "keep people in jails for no reason".
- More political competition within Russia.
