Three weeks after a member of the feminist punk protest group Pussy Riot disappeared into the Russian penal system, authorities have confirmed that she was transferred to a Siberian penal colony.
Conceptual artist and political activist Nadezhda Tolokonnikova was convicted in August of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” following a performance protesting the government of Vladimir Putin. She was sentenced to two years imprisonment, and after being moved to a penal colony in Mordovia, she went on a hunger strike.
Then three weeks ago, Tolokonnikova disappeared, and her family appealed for information. On Wednesday, Russia’s human rights ombudsmen Vladimir Lukin confirmed that Tolokonnikova was transferred to a prison colony in the Siberian province of Krasnoyarsk. Britain’s Independent newspaper cites an Interfax news agency report that quotes Lukin saying, “Tolokonnikova has arrived in the Krasnoyarsk region, where she will be serving a part of her term.” It is not clear how long she will be held in Siberia.