A video posted by the Associated Press Feb 19 shows several uniformed men, described as Cossack militia, attacking members of the punk collective Pussy Riot as they tried to stage a performance near advertising for the Sochi Games, Pink News reports.
One of the men is seen whipping a member of the group and a photographer, while other officers roughed up other band members, throwing one to the ground.
On Feb 18, group members Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were seen exiting a Sochi police station after being detained on suspicion of theft. They then ran down a street, reportedly singing the lyrics to a new song that condemns Russian President Vladimir Putin’s leadership.
Tolokonnikova, who told the BBC that police detained them for about 10 hours after they arrived in the resort city to make a statement about the Winter Games, said there is no room for political dissent.
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