Accessibility links

Breaking News

Pussy Rioter Not Heard From In Two Weeks


Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (right) is escorted from a court hearing of the Supreme Court of Mordovia in July 26.
Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (right) is escorted from a court hearing of the Supreme Court of Mordovia in July 26.
The husband of jailed Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova says she has not been heard from for nearly two weeks since she left her Russian prison colony following demands to be transferred to another penitentiary.

Tolokonnikova went on hunger strike in September to protest what she called death threats and "slave-labor conditions" in a penal colony in Mordovia.

Tolokonnikova's husband, Pyotr Verzilov, said he had not received any news about her or her current location since she left the camp, some 400 kilometers from Moscow, on October 22. Verzilov added Tolokonnikova had reportedly passed through Chelyabinsk in the Urals last month.

Supporters on November 2 picketed the headquarters of the prison service in Moscow.

Tolokonnikova and her bandmate, Maria Alyokhina, are serving a two-year sentence for their group's performance in a Moscow cathedral criticizing President Vladimir Putin.

Based on reporting by AFP and BBC

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.

To find out more, click here.

XS
SM
MD
LG