Jailed Russian Pussy Riot member hospitalized

02 February, 2013

According to Russian media, one of two jailed members of the Pussy Riot feminist punk band, in the wake of their unlawful protest in Moscow's main cathedral against President Vladimir Putin, has been hospitalized.

The media said that the punk band member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has been admitted in prison hospital in Mordovia, western Russia. However, the nature and cause of Tolokonnikova's illness is not known. It is being speculated that harshness of jail with long hours on sewing work term and little rest has led to the illness.

One may recall that a year ago in February 2012, five members of the group staged a performance on the soleas of Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and released the music video entitled "Punk Prayer - Mother of God, Chase Putin Away!" They were accused of spreading religious hatred.

Three of the group members, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, was arrested and denied bail. After trial, they were convicted of 'hooliganism motivated by religious hatred' and awarded two year's imprisonment. Two other members of the group fled Russia fearing prosecution.

In October, last year, following an appeal, Samutsevich was freed on probation, her sentence suspended. The sentences of the other two punk band members, Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova, were upheld. The two convicted punk band members are currently serving their jail terms in two different prison camps in Russia.

Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova firmly held that their performances were 'civic activity amidst the repressions of a corporate political system that directs its power against basic human rights and civil and political liberties'. Many western countries called the imprisonment of the two punk band members 'disproportionate to the actions'.