Feminist punk group Pussy Riot members, from left, Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova sit in a glass cage at a court room in Moscow, Russia on Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. A judge found three members of the provocative punk band Pussy Riot guilty of hooliganism on Friday, in a case that has drawn widespread international condemnation as an emblem of Russia's intolerance of dissent. T-shirt on right worn by Tolokonnikova is Spanish and translates to "They shall not pass", a slogan often used to express determination to defend a position against an enemy. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)
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Feminist punk group Pussy Riot members, from left, Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova sit in a glass cage at a court room in Moscow, Russia on Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. A judge found three members of the provocative punk band Pussy Riot guilty of hooliganism on Friday, in a case that has drawn widespread international condemnation as an emblem of Russia's intolerance of dissent. T-shirt on right worn by Tolokonnikova is Spanish and translates to "They shall not pass", a slogan often used to express determination to defend a position against an enemy. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)
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A masked demonstrator stands in front of a placard reading: 'Justice' in support of the Russian punk group Pussy Riot during a protest outside Spain's Foreign Office in Madrid Thursday Aug. 16, 2012. Three members of Pussy Riot were jailed in March and charged with hooliganism motivated by religious hatred after their punk performance against President Putin in Moscow’s main cathedral. They are awaiting the verdict on Friday, Aug. 17, 2012 (AP Photo/Paul White)
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Pussy Riot punk group supporters place masks on a monument to WWII heroes to resemble Pussy Riot members, at an underground station in Moscow on Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. Three group members who were jailed in March following a guerrilla performance denouncing President Vladimir Putin in Moscow's main cathedral have unwillingly emerged as vivid — and very different — characters. They await a verdict Friday on charges of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. (AP Photo/Yevgeny Feldman, Novaya Gazeta)
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FILE - In this Aug. 17, 2012 file photo, Feminist punk group Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova sits in a glass enclosure at a court in Moscow, Russia. Federal Prison Service spokeswoman Kristina Belousova said Friday, Feb. 1, 2013 that Tolokonnikova is in a prison hospital in the province of Mordovia in western Russia, the site of her prison colony. Belousova refused to specify Tolokonnikova's illness or comment on her condition, saying only that she has "nothing serious." (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze, File)
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FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012 file photo feminist punk group Pussy Riot member Maria Alekhina sits in a glass cage at a court room in Moscow, Russia. Russian prison officials say that Maria Alekhina, one of the jailed members of the punk band Pussy Riot has been moved into a solitary cell following tensions with inmates. Stanislav Volegov, a spokesman for the Federal Penitentiary Service in the Perm region in the Urals where Maria Alekhina is serving her two-year term, said on independent Rain TV that she had been moved into a “safe” cell at her own request. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev, File )
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FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012 file photo feminist punk group Pussy Riot members, from left, Yekaterina Samutsevich, Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova sit in a glass cage at a court room in Moscow, Russia. Russian prison officials say that Maria Alekhina, one of the jailed members of the punk band Pussy Riot has been moved into a solitary cell following tensions with inmates. Stanislav Volegov, a spokesman for the Federal Penitentiary Service in the Perm region in the Urals where Maria Alekhina is serving her two-year term, said on independent Rain TV that she had been moved into a “safe” cell at her own request. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev, File)
Imprisoned Pussy Riot member hospitalized
MOSCOW (AP) — A jailed member of the
Pussy Riot feminist punk band has been hospitalized for a full medical check-up after complaining of headaches and suffering from overwork at a prison colony known for its tough conditions, her lawyer and a fellow band member said Friday.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has suffered from headaches since last spring and her condition has worsened since October when she was sent to a prison colony to serve her two-year sentence for the band's irreverent protest against President Vladimir Putin in Moscow's main cathedral, her lawyer Irina Khrunova said.
She sent a request to prison authorities in December to admit Tolokonnikova in order to perform a detailed medical check, and she was hospitalized on Jan. 24, the lawyer said.
Yekaterina Samutsevich, a band member who also was sentenced to two years in August but later released on appeal, added that Tolokonnikova feels exhausted after working long hours with little sleep.
"They don't allow her to have any rest; she works nearly round the clock," Samutsevich told independent Rain TV on Friday. "She said she feels tired, extremely tired."
In an interview published last week in the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper, Tolokonnikova stoically described harsh prison conditions, saying she doesn't expect any leniency from authorities.
Tolokonnikova, who works at a sewing machine like most female prisoners in Russia's prison colonies, told the paper that she has had her fingers punctured by the needle but has picked up speed and experience and can now meet her quota of making lining for 320 jackets a day. Like other prisoners, she bathes once a week and uses cold water to wash the rest of the week.
Pyotr Verzilov, Tolokonnikova's husband told The Associated Press on Friday that "obviously, the conditions aren't that great, but her lawyer's dealing with it."
Federal Prison Service spokeswoman Kristina Belousova confirmed Tolokonnikova is in a hospital at her prison colony in Mordovia in western Russia, but declined to give other details.
Tolokonnikova, Samutsevich and the third band member, Maria Alekhina, were found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred in August after they raucously prayed to the Virgin Mary for the deliverance from Putin at Christ the Savior Cathedral. Samutsevich was freed in October, but the two others were sent to prison colonies. The verdict has drawn global outrage, highlighting Russia's intolerance of dissent.
Alekhina, who is serving her sentence at another prison colony in the Ural Mountains Perm region, had her appeal rejected by a local court last month.
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Max Seddon contributed to this report.
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