Elevate your local knowledge

Sign up for the iNFOnews newsletter today!

Select Region

Selecting your primary region ensures you get the stories that matter to you first.

Pussy Riot activist sentenced to community works for protest

MOSCOW – An activist from the punk collective Pussy Riot has been sentenced to 40 hours of community service for a protest outside the headquarters of Russia’s top KGB successor agency.

A Moscow court ruled Thursday that Maria Alekhina violated the law with her unsanctioned picket, a verdict she said she would appeal.

Alekhina was detained Wednesday after unfurling a banner that read “Happy Birthday, Hangmen!” outside the headquarters of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, Russia’s main domestic security agency. Her action coincided with a day honouring the agency’s employees, which falls on the anniversary of the creation of the Bolshevik secret police, the Cheka.

Alekhina and Pussy Riot bandmate Nadezhda Tolokonnikova spent nearly two years in prison for an anti-Putin protest inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior in 2012.

News from © iNFOnews.ca, . All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Join the Conversation!

Want to share your thoughts, add context, or connect with others in your community?