Pussy Riot Members Arrested in Sochi

After being released from prison nearly two months ago for a Pussy Riot performance critical of President Vladimir Putin, it looks like Pussy Riot members have been arrested again. On Tuesday morning, it was announced that two members of Pussy Riot were detained and arrested in Sochi near the Olympics, the Associated Press reports. Semyon Simonov, a Russian human rights activist, told the AP that he was with Pussy Riot members Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova when they were accused of theft. Eight other activists and journalists were also were detained.

Simonov says that Russian police told the group that they were under suspicion for a report of a theft and then detained them shortly after.

In a series of tweets written by Tolokonnikova, she detailed the series of events. The first tweet was sent at 2:50 p.m. local time, and said that they were detained near Sochi's seaport and that police were forceful during the arrest.

90 minutes later, Tolokonnikova stated that she had to testify without a lawyer against her will.

She also wrote that she and Alyokhina were in Sochi to protest.

"We are in Sochi to hold a Pussy Riot action. The song is called, ‘Putin Will Teach You to Love the Motherland," Tolokonnikova tweeted. The song is dedicated to the Olympics, described as "corrupt," and “suppression of freedom in Russia.” However, their arrest happened before the protest happened and were just walking when they were stopped.

According to Tolokonnikova, the two were detained on Sunday and Monday, and were held by the Federal Security Service, the F.S.B., for a period of time.

“On the 16th we were detained for seven hours. On the 17th, we spent 10 hours with the F.S.B. and today we are in a police wagon, accused of theft," Tolokonnikova tweeted.

No confirmation from officials has been issued yet.

Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova served almost two years in prison for hooliganism after a protest they started against Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church. However, Putin granted them amnesty because of the the 20th anniversary of Russia's post-Soviet constitution.