Deeksha Sood –
Veronika Nikulshina a member of the Russian activist group Pussy Riot has been jailed for suspicious of planning to disrupt the ongoing 2020 UEFA European Football Championship in St. Petersburg
Veronika Nikilshina’s arrest comes three years after she and fellow activist ran onto the pitch during the FIFA World Cup 2018 hosted in Russia to protect human rights abuses in the country. They were handed 15-jail terms for high-profile disruption.
A Moscow Court on Thursday found Nikulshina guilty of disobeying orders and ruled to jail her for 15 days.
Nikulshina refused to go to a police station for questioning about her intentions behind committing an illegal activity related to violation of public order and safety to disrupt UEFA Euro 2020.
Among 11 European cities St. Petersburg to host the football championship’s matches despite recently tightened anti-corona virus restrictions in an effort to curb a new spike in infections.
The tournament opened on Friday and runs until the 11th of July.
Last month on the same accusation of disobeying police orders Nikulshina was jailed for 5 days.
According to reports Nikulshina had been taken into custody to ‘prevent possible provocations’ during the Victory Day ay in Red Square that Russia holds every year to commemorate Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in WW-II.
Pussy Riot a Feminist punk collective formed in 2011 and quickly earned a reputation for eyebrow-raising performance. In 2012 three of its founding members were imprisoned for a protest performance criticizing President Vladimir Putin tries to the Russian Orthodox Church.
