Pussy Riot’s Nadezhda Tolokonnikova added to Russia’s federal wanted list
Pussy Riot activist Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has been added to the Russian Interior Ministry’s wanted persons database. The observers at Mediazona were first to spot the publication.
The attorney and human rights advocate Pavel Chikov says that Tolokonnikova is being charged with “offending against religious feeling,” under the Russian law passed in the wake of the first case against Pussy Riot, including Tolokonnikova herself.
Russia criminalized offenses against religions feeling after several Pussy Riot members performed a “punk prayer,” with the full title “Mother of God Drive Putin Away,” at Moscow’s iconic Christ the Savior Cathedral. A criminal prosecution followed, and Tolokonnikova went to a penal colony. She became free again in 2013.
The prosecution of Pussy Riot marked a sea change in Russia’s turn towards repressive police state practices.
