Pussy Riot Member Added To Wanted List After Sentence Changed To Prison Term

By RFE/RL's Russian Service

MOSCOW -- A leading member of the Pussy Riot protest group, Maria Alyokhina, has been added to Russia's wanted list five days after a Moscow court changed the remainder of her one-year parole-like sentence to real prison time for violating the terms of her punishment.

Alyokhina's name appeared on Russian Interior Ministry’s registry of wanted persons on April 26.

The move comes after a Moscow court on April 21 approved the request, made by the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN), to change the sentence handed to Alyokhina last September for violating coronavirus safety precautions by calling on people to protest against the detention of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny.

The court ruled that Alyokhina must serve the remaining 21 days of her sentence in a penal colony.

The FSIN said it made the request because Alyokhina violated electronic-bracelet requirements and once came home in January after a curfew time.

Alyokhina has said she removed the electronic bracelet from her leg on March 30 to protest Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.