Shortly after announcing that Kiryl Masheka had gone missing, the Russian punk band and activist group inform fans that his name has been found on the Vyasna human rights center detainee list.
- August 15, 2020
AceShowbiz - Pussy Riot report that one of their members is incarcerated in a Minsk, Belarus jail after joining protests in the country.
Belarusians have taken to the streets in the capital after dictator Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner of an election regarded as rigged by U.S. and United Nations officials - with some protesters saying they have been detained and tortured.
On Thursday, August 13, the Russian punk band and activist group announced on Facebook that member Kiryl Masheka had gone missing - later posting an update that they had found he was being detained in Minsk's Okrestino prison.
The group's initial message read: "Kiryl Masheka - our comrade, friend, member of Pussy Riot, has been detained at the protests in Minsk."
"The last time Kirill got in touch was on the evening of August 9th. 11th of August we found his name on the Vyasna human rights center detainee list."
"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."
According to BBC News, around 6,700 protesters have been detained since the unrest began.
Pussy Riot members have often fallen foul of the authorities in their homeland, too, having been detained on multiple occasions for their protests against Russian President Vladimir Putin - with one member, Pyotr Verzilov, claiming he was poisoned after a court hearing.
