MOSCOW, September 23 (RAPSI) – Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has gone on a hunger strike, her lawyer Irina Khrunova told RAPSI on Monday.
The attorney also added that Tolokonnikova has written a complaint to the Investigative Committee, in which she claims to be threatened by the inmates and the prison’s employees.
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 Samutsevich and two other Pussy Riot members - Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina - 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's request for parole was rejected by the Berezniki court on May 23.