Aysoltan Niyazova, a member of Pussy Riot, was apprehended by Polish border authorities following a red notice from Interpol at the request of Turkmenistan, as reported by the anti-Kremlin activist group on Saturday.

Niyazova, an activist hailing from Turkmenistan, faced allegations of embezzlement from the nation’s Central Bank, with an extradition request dating back to 2002.

Pussy Riot maintains that the accusations against Niyazova are baseless and driven by political motives.

“Being sent back to Turkmenistan would be tantamount to a death sentence for her,” said Maria Alyokhina, a member of Pussy Riot, in an interview with The Moscow Times.

In 2011, Switzerland denied Turkmenistan’s extradition request for Niyazova but handed her over to Russia, where she was imprisoned for six years on similar embezzlement charges.

Niyazova was reportedly traveling from Lithuania to Poland to adopt a dog from a local shelter.

This year, Polish authorities implemented selective border checks with Germany and Lithuania.

In 2022, she was also detained in Slovenia and Croatia at the request of Turkmenistan.

While Slovenia released her after ten hours, Croatia let her go two days later.

Niyazova’s legal team has appealed to Interpol to delist her from its database, arguing that Turkmenistan’s request lacks legitimacy, but the organization has declined to act.

Her father, Kurbanburad Niyazov, was a supporter of Turkmenistan’s opposition and died in prison, according to the exiled news outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe, which notes that Niyazova attributes her own persecution to her opposition stance.

The report from Novaya Gazeta Europe also indicates that Niyazova has never held citizenship in Turkmenistan.

International human rights organizations classify Turkmenistan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia, among the most repressive regimes worldwide.