In the search database of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, a card was published with the data of the co-founder of the punk band Pussy Riot Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (known in the Russian Federation as a foreign agent). The Russian woman is wanted pursuant to an article of the Criminal Code, as reported on the website.
In March, a new criminal case was opened against Tolokonnikova – the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation filed “Insulting the feelings of believers” in accordance with Part 1 of Article 148 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The lawsuit was filed after the activist’s posts on his social networks.
In Russia, Tolokonnikova could face up to 1 year in prison or a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles or forced labor.
At the same time, Tolokonnikova has not lived in Russia for several years – according to lawyer Pavel Chikov (recognized in the Russian Federation as a foreign agent), she moved to the United States.
In 2012, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and two other members of Pussy Riot, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich, were sentenced to two years in prison for performing a “punk prayer” at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. Activists were released as part of an amnesty in 2013.
After the start of the CVO in Ukraine, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation has already put other members of Pussy Riot on the wanted list. On 16 May, a card with data from Basmanny municipal district deputy Lucy Stein appeared in the agency’s searched database. A criminal case was filed against him within the scope of the article about forgery against the RF Armed Forces. The court said that on March 27, 2022, Stein left comments on Twitter that “under the guise of reliable information, he deliberately published false information about war crimes committed by soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.”
In 2021, Stein was convicted of a “sanitary case” for inciting to violate sanitary and epidemiological rules during unsanctioned protests in Moscow.
The court restricted Stein’s freedom for 1 year.
Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina was also put on the wanted list by the Russian Interior Ministry in April last year. She was also previously convicted of a “sanitary case”, placed under house arrest – but escaped under it, cut the electronic bracelet on her leg and left the Russian Federation.
In January 2023, Petr Verzilov, a member of the Voina art group and the founder of Mediazona (the organization is included in the list of foreign agents by the Ministry of Justice) (recognized as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation), was also put in. “Verzilov violated the restraining measure previously chosen for him in the form of a written commitment not to leave the country. <…> In this context, the Basmanny Court reported that Verzilov was placed on the international wanted list.
In Russia, Verzilov is accused of violating Art. 330.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Failure to fulfill the obligation to a citizen of the Russian Federation to declare his citizenship (citizenship) of a foreign state). Leonid Solovyov, the activist’s lawyer, had previously clarified that his client did indeed have a second citizenship – Canada.
Verzilov was one of the organizers of the action where several members of the Pussy Riot performed punk prayers at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.