NADEZHDA TOLOKONNIKOVA
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (born November 7, 1989), nicknamed “Nadya Tolokno”, is a Russian conceptual artist and political activist. She is a member of the anti-Putinist punk rock group Pussy Riot, and has a history of political activism with the controversial street art group Voina. On August 17, 2012, she was convicted of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” after a performance in Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. Tolokonnikova was recognized as a political prisoner by the Russian human rights group “Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners”. Amnesty International named her a prisoner of conscience due to “the severity of the response of the Russian authorities”. (More from Wikipedia)
In August 2012, the Russian government charged three of the bandmembers in Pussy Riot – Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich – with “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred”; that’s rich considering that Russia’s government was vehemently atheistic barely two decades ago. While Samutsevich was later freed on appeal, the other two women were sentenced in October 2012 to two years in prison.
A sweeping amnesty law that was passed in Russia in late December 2013 has ended their sentence. Although this law was derided as a publicity stunt in preparation for the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics, it seems to me that we could use some amnesty in this country also.
(December 2013)
