PERM, May 29 (RAPSI) - Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina, who has been on a hunger strike since May 22, has been transferred to a medical unit in her prison colony, a representative of the Federal Penitentiary Suthority in Russia's Perm Territory told RIA Novosti Wednesday.

He refused to comment on Alyokhina's health on the basis of confidentiality concerns.

Attorney Irina Khrunova told RIA Novosti that regional human rights activists planned a visit on Wednesday to assess conditions in the prison colony in the town of Berezniki.

In February 2012, 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 Alyokhina and two other Pussy Riot members - Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich - to two years in a prison settlement 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.

The sentences of Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova were upheld.

In April 2013, the Zubova Polyana District Court in Mordovia rejected Tolokonnikova's request for parole.

Alyokhina began her hunger strike after being barred from attending a parole hearing. Her request for parole was rejected by the Berezniki court on May 23.