MOSCOW, July 20 (RAPSI) – The Moscow City Court will consider appeals against detention of four activists behind a pitch invasion during FIFA World Cup 2018 final match between Croatia and France on July 23, the court’s spokesperson Ulyana Solopova has told RAPSI.

On July 16, Moscow’s Khamovnichesky District Court ordered the detention of Olga Pakhtusova, Olga Karacheva, Pyotr Verzilov and Veronica Nikulshina. They were found guilty of violating the rules of conduct for audience during sporting events. They were also prohibited from attending sports events for 3 years.

Moreover, they could face fines of up to 1.500 rubles for illegal wear of uniform with rank badges, governmental paramilitary and law enforcement organizations’ symbols.

On July 15, on the 52th minute of the match, four people broke through to the football field. Later, Pussy Riot group announced on its Facebook page that its members organized a public action called “Militiaman enters the game”.

The feminist punk group Pussy Riot became known in February 2012, when five young women wearing brightly colored balaclavas staged a punk rock prayer in Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral. An edited video of their performance was posted on the Internet and caused a public outcry.

In August 2012, the Khamovnichesky District Court in Moscow sentenced Maria Alyokhina, Yekaterina Samutsevich, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova to two years for hooliganism. In October 2012, the Moscow City Court changed Samutsevich's verdict to a suspended sentence and released her immediately based on her new attorneys' argument that she had been seized by security guards prior to reaching the altar. In December 2013, Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina were pardoned under the amnesty dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Russian Constitution.