MOSCOW, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Nagezhda Tolokonnikova, one of two Pussy Riot band members jailed in Russia for hooliganism, says Russian authorities have put her in "isolation."
Tolokonnikova, who is serving a 2-year prison term for her participation in a "punk pray" outside of a Moscow cathedral, has alleged that while she was on a hunger strike, she was unable to speak with her lawyer or relatives, The Guardian (Britain) reported.
Her hunger strike over conditions at the prison lasted for about two weeks in September.
"I want to make a declaration to everyone who has a role in making the decision to put me in isolation," Tolokonnikova wrote in her statement, released by the prison. "If you think that without contact with my friends I will become amenable and open to compromise, and go back on the views I have formed about Mordovia's camps during my time in jail, then you are horribly mistaken."
Tolokonnikova has likened her time at Penal Colony No. 14 in the Mordovia area to Soviet Gulags, being forced to work 17 hours a day, with severe punishments inflicted by prison guards.
Tolokonnikova and fellow jailed Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina may be on a list of non-violent criminals to be pardoned on the 20th anniversary of the signing of Russia's constitution, RIA Novosti reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will ratify the proposal for mass amnesty Oct. 15.
"Since we talk about non-violent crimes, it [the amnesty] may be applied," to the members of Pussy Riot, said Kirill Kabanov, a member of the judicial reform commission.
