The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow has arrested Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina for 15 days for posting on Instagram seven years ago.
She was arrested under part 1 of article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (“Demonstration of Nazi symbols”), reports “Mediazona”* with reference to the lawyer of the human rights organization “Apology” Veronika Polyakova.
Alyokhina was detained on February 7 at the exit from the inspection of the Federal Penitentiary Service and taken to the police department in the Tverskoy district. There, a protocol was drawn up against her on the public demonstration of Nazi symbols – the swastika. Alyokhina herself claims that the image is not a swastika, but Hindu symbols, and added that she herself “dedicated half her life to the anti-fascist movement.” But the court upheld the position of the police.
In September 2021, Alyokhina was sentenced to a year of restriction of freedom on a “sanitary case”. The reason for the criminal prosecution was a post in support of a rally in defense of politician Alexei Navalny – the court considered it incitement to violate sanitary and epidemiological standards.
According to the norms of the Code of Criminal Procedure, if Alyokhina has more than 2 violations under administrative articles of arrest, then the Federal Penitentiary Service will have the right to petition for the replacement of the punishment under the “sanitary case” with a real one. “2-3 violations, and I’m in jail. 2 [нарушения] I already have,” Maria Alekhina told our publication.
