Russian authorities have arrested nine activists, including two members of Pussy Riot, in central Sochi.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, former prisoners of conscience jailed for their peaceful activism as part of the punk collective Pussy Riot, have said that they have been arrested in Sochi for the third time in three days. Authorities have claimed the arrest was related to a theft at the hotel where they stayed, but the activists believe the real reason for their ongoing harassment in Sochi was because of their plan to film a music video titled “Putin will teach you how to love your Motherland”.

Colm O’Gorman, Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland commented, “In Putin’s Russia, the authorities have consistently ignored and undermined the principles of the Olympic movement. Their actions mean that the legacy of these winter games will not be the sporting achievement of participating athletes, but rather the suppression of freedom of expression and the detention of peaceful activists.”

“This is outrageous. There are reports of arrests of activists in Sochi and the Olympic Games area almost daily. The International Olympic Committee must roundly condemn these and all arrests of activists near Sochi,” continued O’Gorman.

“People are being targeted merely for peacefully speaking their minds. The Russian authorities must end this downward spiral of human rights violations around the Olympic Village.”

Among those arrested by police and officials was Semyon Simonov of the human rights centre Memorial, journalists from Radio Free Europe and the Russian independent daily Novaya Gazeta, and local civil rights activist David Hakim.