Nadya Tolokonnikova

Nadya Tolokonnikova

Pussy Riot Member & Political Activist

Nadezhda "Nadya" Andreyevna Tolokonnikova is a Russian musician, conceptual artist and political activist. She is a founding member of the anarchist feminist group Pussy Riot, and has a history of political activism with the street art group Voina.

 

On 17 August 2012, Nadya was arrested for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" after a performance in Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, and was ultimately sentenced to two years imprisonment. On 23 December 2013, she was released early with another Pussy Riot member, Maria Alyokhina, under a newly passed amnesty bill dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Russian constitution. While jailed, Tolokonnikova was recognised as a political prisoner by the Russian human rights group Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners. Amnesty International named her a prisoner of conscience due to "the severity of the response of the Russian authorities".