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Pussy Riot have claimed that one of their members is currently being held in a jail in Minsk, Belarus after they previously reported him missing.
The group say that Kiryl Masheka, who they describe as their “comrade, friend [and] member of Pussy Riot”, was detained during the protests in Minsk that have been sparked by the disputed outcome of Sunday’s presidential vote (August 9).
Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, was declared the winner by election officials.
Both the UN and the US have rejected the vote as being neither free nor fair, while Belarus’ main opposition figure, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, has also claimed victory.
As BBC News reports, 6700 protesters have been detained since the demonstrations began. Belarus has promised to free all detainees.
In a post yesterday (August 13), Pussy Riot said that Masheka was detained while attending the Minsk protests.
UPD: WE FOUND HIM AT WORST JAIL IN MINSK – OKRESTINO
URGENT! A PUSSY RIOT MEMBER WENT MISSING IN BELARUS. WE FEAR…
Posted by PussyRiot on Thursday, August 13, 2020
“The last time Kirill got in touch was on the evening of August 9. August 11 we found his name on the Vyasna human rights centre detainee list,” the group explained.
They later added in an update to their original post that they had since learned that Masheka was being detained at Okrestino detention centre, which Pussy Riot claim is the “worst jail in Minsk”.
In their original post, Pussy Riot said: “What is happening in Belarus should be screamed loudly to the whole world. For several days, new evidence of the absolutely wild cruelty of the Belarusian security floods on the Internet. Lukashenko’s bandits take peaceful people hostage, beat them, torture, and hold them in inhuman conditions. It is impossible to look at the footage of the torture of the detainees except with a feeling of horror. Think about it, monsters, you are torturing unarmed people!
“Our heart goes out to the people of Belarus now. We are proud of your courage and infinite fortitude. We believe that you can win this battle.”
Last month, Pussy Riot shared a song that was inspired by the recent wave of Black Lives Matter protests.
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