Russia: Pussy Riot founders set up prisoners' rights center
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 13 March 2014 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Russia: Pussy Riot founders set up prisoners' rights center, 13 March 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/534d2e9a3.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
March 13, 2014
By RFE/RL
Pussy Riot founding members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (left) and Maria Alyokhina (file photo)
Two founding members of the female punk performance-art group Pussy Riot have officially announced their newly established center to defend prisoners' rights.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina told reporters on March 13 that the center will work from within a complex of penal colonies in Russia's Republic of Mordovia.
The center – called Zona Prava (Zone of Law) – also has a hotline number that offers legal advice to those who have suffered prison abuse or for their relatives.
The women were convicted of hooliganism for a performance critical of President Vladimir Putin in a Moscow cathedral in 2012.
They had almost served their two-year sentences in full when they were freed under a general amnesty in December.
Tolokonnikova spent most of her sentence in a penal colony in Mordovia.
With reporting by AFP
Link to original story on RFE/RL website