Two members of Pussy Riot arrested in Sochi

Two members of the protest group Pussy Riot say they have been arrested in Sochi.

Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, who were freed from jail in December, said they had been detained in the centre of the town on suspicion of a criminal offence.

It is believed they were arrested in central Sochi, some 30km north of the main Olympic venues.

“We have been arrested … and are accused of robbery,” Ms Tolokonnikova wrote on her Twitter account.

The pair spent two years in prison for a protest song in a Moscow cathedral.

Pussy Riot called for a boycott of the Sochi Winter Olympics last year in protest against Russia’s anti-gay laws.

On Tuesday, the International Olympic Committee defended the arrest of a transgender Italian former MP who was recently seen demonstrating at the Sochi arena against Russia’s anti-gay laws.

Several LGBT campaigners have been arrested in Russia since the Winter Olympic Games started on 7 February.

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