The International Olympic Committee said that it would be “wholly inappropriate” for the Russian feminist punk group Pussy Riot to stage protests within the Olympic Park at Sochi.
On Tuesday two members of the punk group, which is opposed to President Putin’s government, were arrested near the Sochi ferry terminal, then later released. IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said Wednesday that Olympic “venues are not the places to have demonstrations”, reports USA Today.
Reports emerged on Wednesday that the punk group had been attacked with whips by Cossack militia, which are being used by police authorities to help patrol the streets in downtown Sochi. The two members arrested on Tuesday, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, claimed they had repeatedly been targeted by police since their arrival in the host city on Sunday. They had been planning to perform their latest song, “Putin Will Teach You to Love the Motherland.”