Reports are emerging claiming that Pussy Riot’s Nadia Tolokonnikova has made contact with her husband, following three weeks of worrying silence. The reports follow information earlier this week claiming she had been moved to a Siberian gulag – a forced labour camp.
The new information on the Free Pussy Riot website states that Tolokonnikova is expected to move to IR-50 (a Russian women-only penal colony) in Ingash. She is reported to have spent the last few weeks in a TB clinic following possible complications from her hunger strike. Tolokonnikova had began the hunger strike to raise awareness of the perceived inhumane conditions in her former colony.
Free Pussy Riot goes on to say that the Federal Penitentiary Service are quoted as saying that the move will help with her re-socialisation, however whether this is into free society or within the penal system remains unclear.
Previously, articles had expressed concern over the whereabouts of Nadia Tolokonnikova following almost 20 days without any contact. According to The Daily Beast, her husband, Petr Verzilov, had travelled to IR-50 only to be informed that Tolokonnikova was still missing.