Russia: Pussy Riot hunger striker Nadezhda Tolokonnikova moved to isolation cell

A jailed member of Russian punk band Pussy Riot has been moved into an isolation cell after she went on a hunger strike to protest harsh conditions and threats to her life from other inmates at a prison southeast of Moscow.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 23, is more than halfway through a two-year sentence for hooliganism after she and other Pussy Riot members performed an anti-President Vladimir Putin song inside a Moscow cathedral.

Tolokonnikova was moved to an isolated room equipped with a bed, refrigerator and toilet on Tuesday after she wrote a letter claiming she had been threatened by other inmates and prison wardens, and forced to work 17 hours a day.

Prison officials said Tolokonnikova had been moved for her own safety and was not being punished. 

In the letter released to the media by her husband, Tolokonnikova claimed prisoners were treated like “slaves” and were denied food, forbidden to use the toilet or made to stand outside in the cold if they failed to meet their work quotas.

Fellow band member Maria Alyokhina is also serving a two-year sentence. A third member of the group was given a suspended sentence.