Pyotr Verzilov, a member of the feminist protest group Pussy Riot, speaks during an interview to the Associated Press in Moscow, Russia, on Sept. 7. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Pyotr Verzilov, a member of the feminist protest group Pussy Riot, speaks during an interview to the Associated Press in Moscow, Russia, on Sept. 7. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Pussy Riot activist may have medicine poisoning

Pyotr Verzilov’s doctors said that he either overdosed on medicine or was given too much medicine.

  • By Wire Service
  • Thursday, September 13, 2018 7:33am
  • Nation-World

Associated Press

MOSCOW — Doctors say a hospitalized member of protest group Pussy Riot may have been poisoned by an overdose of medication.

Independent news website Meduza reported Thursday that Pyotr Verzilov’s doctors told his relatives that he either overdosed on medicine or was given too much medicine. The report did not specify the substance.

Fellow Pussy Riot member Veronika Nikulshina told The Associated Press that the report was accurate but wouldn’t comment further.

Friends insisted that Verzilov hadn’t been taking medications or using drugs. Verzilov has been hospitalized in Moscow since Tuesday.

Verzilov and other activists served 15-day jail sentences for disrupting July’s World Cup final to protest excessive Russian police powers.

Speaking to The AP last week, Verzilov said, “Public protest in Russia is the only way to actually change anything.”

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