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Moscow court arrests two Pussy Riot activists for disobeying police

According to earlier reports, the girls knocked down a police office by a car they were in

MOSCOW, January 24. /TASS/. A Moscow district court on Sunday sanctioned a ten-day arrest of two activists of the Russian all-girl protest punk rock band and has fined another one for disobeying police and calling for unauthorized rallied.

"The girls are facing different charges. Viktoria Kuztensova was recognized guilty on charges of committing an administrative offence under part 1, article 19.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences (disobeying a police office). She was sentenced to a ten-day administrative arrest. Lyudmila Stein was recognized guilty on charges of committing an administrative offence under part 2, article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences (organizing of a public event without due notification). She was also sentenced to a ten-day administrative arrest," a spokesman for the Moscow Presnensky District Court told TASS.

Another Pussy Riot activist, Maria Alyokhina, was also recognize guilty under part 2, article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences and was punished by a fine of 30,000 rubles (nearly 400 US dollars).

According to earlier reports, the girls knocked down a police office by a car they were in and tried to flee the scene in central Moscow on Saturday. The incident occurred when the police tried to detain them for calls for participation in an unauthorized rally in support of opposition Alexey Navalny.

Stein wrote on her Twitter account that policemen had tried to broke into their apartment but they had managed to flee the house and get inside a car. The policemen surrounded the car and began to knock on it. The driver bypassed them and fled. According to a TASS source in the law enforcement agencies, Kuznetsova was driving the car and Stein and Alyokhina were inside.