Two former members of the all-female Russian punk band Pussy Riot were detained in central Sochi on Tuesday, the husband of a member told CNN.
Maria Alyokhina and
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were recently released from prison, ahead of the Sochi
Olympics.
The two were near the
seaport, meeting journalists, when police took them in, Tolokonnikova's husband
said.
Local police have not
yet confirmed the detention.
The pair was planning
to record a song in English called "Putin will teach you love the
homeland."
Tolokonnikova posted
photos to Twitter of what she claims is herself in a car being taken to a
police station.
Alyokhina posted a
tweet saying they had had been detained near the church of Mikhail the
Archangel and were accused of committing a crime. Officers forced them into a
police van, she said.
Tolokonnikova and
Alyokhina, who are highly critical of President Vladimir Putin, went to Sochi
to protest against the lack freedom of speech in Russia.
The former band
members were thrown in jail for nearly two years after they were convicted of
"hooliganism" and inciting religious hatred for performing a riotous
punk song slamming Putin in a Moscow Cathedral -- and posting a video of it
online.
A third member of
Pussy Riot, Yekaterina Samutsevich, was released in 2012.
In February, other
members of the band distanced themselves from Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina.
Source: CNN
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