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Prison Guard’s Alleged Death Threats to Pussy Riot Member Will Be Ignored

Pussy Riot Prison Abuse Threat Deputy Rejected Hunger Strike

Russian authorities say they will not look into Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova’s allegations that a prison security official threatened to kill her during her confinement at Central Russia’s facility No. 14 in Mordovia. That particular abuse as well as the labor conditions therein were the subject of one of the punk-protestor’s hunger strikes, for which she was hospitalized earlier this month.

According to reports cited by Hollywood Reporter, Tolokonnikova was moved to a prison in Alatyr, a small town in the Chuvash Republic — a success to be sure, but Russian wire service RIA Novosti quoted an Investigative Committee spokesperson who said the complaint about lieutenant colonel Yuri Kupriyanov was being dropped on Thursday due to a lack of evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

In other recent news from the Pussy Riot front, we reported late last week that Maria Alyokhina recalled her application for early release since Tolokonnikova was not being offered the same opportunity. The pair are approaching the tail end of their two-year sentence for performing a “punk prayer” at a Moscow Cathedral in February of 2012. They are set to be released in April of next year.