MOSCOW -- A member of the Pussy Riot protest group has been sentenced to 20 days in jail for taking part in a protest performance in Moscow last week.
Lawyer Mansur Gilmanov said late on December 3 that Rita Flores, also known as Margarita Konovalova, was found guilty of repeatedly violating the law on public gatherings. He added that the court’s ruling will be appealed.
Maria Alyokhina, a member of the protest group, said earlier on December 3 that police detained Flores after she was taken to a Moscow hospital overnight to be treated for an unspecified illness.
On November 28, Flores, Alyokhina, and artist Farkhad Israfilli-Gelman staged a protest performance called Fragile! Handle With Care! not far from the State History Museum near Red Square.
In the performance, two women in Russian national costumes tied Israfilli-Gelman, who was wearing a riot police uniform, to a light pole with packing tape.
The event highlighted several cases against protesters who received prison terms last year for throwing plastic cups and plastic bottles at police during the dispersal of rallies in the Russian capital.
Police briefly detained Israfilli-Gelman on November 28 and Alyokhina on December 2. The two were charged with violating the law on public gatherings. Their trials are pending as well.
