Nadezhda Tolokonnikova
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova
07.11.1989 (35 gadi) (Norilsk, USSR (Russia))
Nadezhda Andreyevna Tolokonnikova (Russian: Наде́жда Андре́евна Толоко́нникова, IPA: [nɐˈdʲeʐdə təlɐˈkonʲːɪkəvə]; born November 7, 1987), nicknamed "Nadya Tolokno" (Надя Толокно), is a Russian conceptual artist and political activist. She was a member of the anarchist feminist group Pussy Riot, and has a history of political activism with the controversial street art group Voina. On August 17, 2012, she was convicted of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" after a performance in Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and sentenced to two years' imprisonment. On December 23, 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.Tolokonnikova was recognized 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".