Pussy Riot’s Nadezhda Tolokonnikova Now In Solitary Confinement

Photo by Denis Bochkarev.
Photo by Denis Bochkarev.

Pussy Riot’s Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has been placed in solitary confinement at Penal Colony No 14, according to Amnesty International, following her whistle blowing open letter about alleged abuses at the detention facility.

The human rights organization is calling for an investigation into the abuses Tolokonnikova wrote about. The detention facility where she is serving a two-year sentence for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” is located in the Mordovia region, southeast of Moscow.

Tolokonnikova’s open letter began circulating via the internet earlier this week and was published  on The Guardian website.

“The prison administration claimed that Nadezhda Tolokonnikova had been placed in isolation for her own protection, but we are concerned this could be yet another punishment for demanding that her own rights and the rights of other inmates are respected,” Sergei Nikitin, Director of Amnesty International’s office in Moscow, said in a statement on the Amnesty website. “What authorities should do is investigate the allegations she made.”

“The case against members of the band Pussy Riot has been consistently outrageous from start to finish,” Nikitin continued, “and sought nothing other than to undermine the band members’ right to freedom of expression. The Russian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release the activists and quash all charges against them.”

For more, go to the Amnesty International site.

 

 

About Michael Goldberg

Michael Goldberg is a distinguished pioneer in the online music space; Newsweek magazine called him an ‘Internet visionary.’ In 1994 he founded Addicted To Noise (ATN), the highly influential music web site. He was a senior vice-president and editor in chief at SonicNet from March 1997 through May 2000. In 1997, Addicted To Noise won Webby awards for best music site in 1998 and 1999, and also won Yahoo Internet Life! awards for three years running as best music site in 1998, 1999 and 2000. Prior to starting Addicted To Noise, Goldberg was an editor and senior writer at Rolling Stone magazine for 10 years. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Esquire, Vibe, Details, Downbeat, NME and numerous other publications. Michael has had three novels published that comprise the "Freak Scene Dream trilogy": "True Love Scars," "The Flowers Lied" and "Untitled" which can be ordered here. His new book, "Wicked Game: The True Story of Guitarist James Calvin Wilsey," can be pre-ordered from HoZac Books. In November Backbeat Books will publish "Addicted To Noise: The Music Writings of Michael Goldberg," which can be be pre-ordered here.

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