Pussy Riot leader lost in Russia’s prison system, husband says

MOSCOW — The leader of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, whose protest performance at a Moscow cathedral led to prison terms for three of its members, appears to be lost in the nation’s vast penal system, her husband said Sunday.

Pyotr Verzilov said he had not received any news from or about his wife, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, for more than three weeks after authorities said she was being transferred to another penal colony from the corrective labor camp in Mordovia, east of Moscow.

Tolokonnikova, 24, wrote an open letter Sept. 23 charging violations of human rights in the Mordovia camp and declared a hunger strike in protest. The musician accused the camp administration of pressing convicts to work long hours and threatening her life.

Tolokonnikova was first transferred to a prison hospital, where she ended her strike after nine days. Then in mid-October she was reportedly transferred to another colony.

Tolokonnikova’s lawyer, Irina Khrunova, said Sunday that prison system sources told her last week her client had been transferred to Colony IK-50 near the town of Nizhny Ingash, about 200 miles east of Krasnoyarsk in central Siberia.

“They can’t officially tell us where she is now and where she is heading for security reasons,” Khrunova said in an interview. “As long as she is in transit, her whereabouts is a white spot on the map, and there is nothing we can do about that.”

As soon as Khrunova passed the information about Tolokonnikova’s alleged destination, Verzilov traveled to Nizhny Ingash to talk to the colony’s administration chief. Verzilov said the administrator told Verzilov on Saturday that he knew from media reports that Tolokonnikova was coming to his colony and that she was not there yet.

“I am terribly worried about Nadezhda as we don’t know where she is or how she is,” Verzilov said in a phone interview from Krasnoyarsk on Sunday. “My understanding is that such a long transit with all additional deprivations it bodes for Nadezhda is the way the system is taking its revenge on her for her rebellion against its lawlessness. They are deliberately torturing her right now by such a long transit.”

Tolokonnikova and bandmates Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich were arrested in March 2012 and sentenced by a Moscow court to two years in prison each on a charge of hooliganism committed out of religious hatred.

The trial drew worldwide attention because the three women had challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin when in February 2012, at the height of Putin’s successful election campaign, they entered Christ the Savior’s Cathedral in downtown Moscow dressed in long gowns and hoods and performed what they called a punk prayer begging Mother Mary to drive Putin away.

Samutsevich, 31, was later given a suspended sentence after authorities said she had not been directly involved in the actions. Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina were sent to prison camps.

Verzilov said Sunday that he had no option but to stay in Krasnoyarsk and wait for his wife’s arrival in the colony.

Human rights activists, meanwhile, demanded that the authorities report on Tolokonnikova’s whereabouts and well-being.

“The system demonstrates that at any given moment it can behave like (Josef) Stalin’s gulag,” Lev Ponomaryov, head of the Moscow-based For Human Rights movement, said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “The system has not undergone any serious changes since those dark times as it continues to demonstrate that for them public opinion and human rights don’t mean a thing.”

Ponomaryov said he was planning to discuss the situation Monday with Vladimir Lukin, Russia’s presidential human rights envoy.

Alyokhina, 25, who is serving her term in the Nizhny Novgorod region, complained that she was beaten by guards in July when she first refused to be transferred to a new colony from the Perm region.

Both young women are expected to go free in March.

—-

&Copy;2013 Los Angeles Times

Visit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services

—————

Topics: t000027855,t000002997,t000002458,t000002478,t000002481,t000183274,g000362697,g000362669,g000219715,g000065696,g000215489,g000221444,g000221463,g000362661,g000065584,g000066164

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.