A Garbage response. Russian prison sends Shirley Manson bureaucratic boilerplate, omitting name of hunger‑striking activist she appealed for

The administration of Penal Colony No. 5 (IK-5) in Russia’s Oryol region has issued a formal, two-page response to a letter from Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson regarding the treatment of imprisoned Russian activist Mikhail Kriger. The letter never mentions Kriger by name—nor does it address the specific allegations of mistreatment that have led the activist to maintain a hunger strike for over a month. Instead, the document offers only a boilerplate description of the penal system’s legal framework and its corrective goals, describing the prison’s actions as “proper and lawful.” The letter was shared with Mediazona by Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova.

Mikhail Kriger, a 65-year-old Moscow activist, was sentenced in 2023 to seven years in prison on charges of “justifying terrorism” and “inciting hatred” amid anti-war protests. According to investigators, he called for Vladimir Putin to be hanged and spoke of “threatening the lives of FSB officers” on social media.

During his trial, Kriger was defiant, stating in his closing argument that he truly dreams of living to see “Putin’s hanging.” He maintains that the posts were merely a pretext for his prosecution, which he says is retaliation for his consistent “anti-war and outwardly pro-Ukrainian position,” which he has never hidden. After his conviction, he was transferred to IK-5 in the Oryol region to serve his sentence.

On September 25, Kriger declared a hunger strike to protest what he describes as a deliberate campaign of isolation by the prison administration. He has been repeatedly placed in a SHIZO, an isolation punishment cell, or a slightly more relaxed isolation cell (his brother describes the distinction as is meaningless, as both amount to solitary confinement).

The prison administration has officially justified this isolation, claiming the they have “information about risks to his life and health” were he held with other inmates, and that he is therefore being kept in a “safe place.” Kriger himself insists he is under no threat from other prisoners and describes the move as a deliberate campaign of pressure from the administration.

He escalated his protest on October 9 by starting a “dry” hunger strike, refusing water. On October 23, Kriger’s support group announced that he had ended his “dry” hunger strike: “Misha has returned to a so-called ‘wet’ hunger strike, meaning he is drinking water again. He is drinking boiling water, sweet tea. He does not plan to start eating.” The group also relayed that his physical state was assessed as “very good.” “Health is all good, not planning to die, ‘we will live’,” the message concluded.

Shirley Manson, the lead singer of Garbage, sent a public letter to the prison’s head, Maxim Prilepsky, on October 14, noting that the hunger strike was a “desperate act by a man deprived of humane treatment and of the most basic human contact.” “Such measures, I believe, do not serve justice or order,” she wrote. Now, she received a response filled with stuffy bureaucratese but no substance.

Dear Shirley Manson,

Your appeal, received by [Penal Colony] IK-5 of the [Federal Penitentiary Service’s] Regional Directorate for the Oryol region, has been reviewed.

The penal-executive system of the Russian Federation is aimed at the correction of convicted persons and the prevention of the commission of new crimes by said convicted persons, the regulation of the procedure and conditions for serving sentences, the determination of the means for correcting convicted persons, the protection of their rights, freedoms, and lawful interests, and the provision of assistance to convicted persons in social adaptation.

The organization of the activities of a correctional institution is directed at the correction of convicted persons, which includes compliance with regime requirements, educational work, the receipt of general education, and professional training.

In accordance with Part 1, Article 115 of the Penal-Executive Code of the Russian Federation (hereinafter the PEC RF), measures of disciplinary action may be applied to convicted persons for a violation of the established procedure for serving their sentence. The imposition of a disciplinary action constitutes a lawful measure of influence upon a convicted person who has permitted a violation. This procedure is strictly regulated by Articles 115 and 117 of the PEC RF.

The basis for the imposition of a measure of disciplinary action is the commission of a disciplinary infraction by a convicted person. Prior to the imposition of said action, the convicted person must be afforded the right to provide an explanation regarding the substance of the offense committed.

Thus, the actions of the administration of the correctional institution with regard to bringing convicted persons to disciplinary liability are proper and lawful, as they are carried out in strict accordance with the norms of the penal-executive legislation of the Russian Federation.

A convicted person, in relation to whom measures of a disciplinary nature have been imposed, and who believes that his or her rights have been violated, is entitled to appeal the actions of the institution's administration in the manner prescribed by law (by means of filing a complaint with the head of the superior territorial body of the FSIN of Russia, with the court, or with the prosecutor's office).

We also clarify for you that, in accordance with Paragraph 4, Article 5 of Federal Law No. 59-FZ dated 02.05.2006 “On the Procedure for Considering Appeals from Citizens of the Russian Federation,” you have the right to file a complaint against the decision taken on your appeal or against an action (inaction) in connection with the consideration of the appeal in an administrative and/or judicial procedure in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Acting Head Lieutenant Colonel of the Internal Service

A.E. Kuzmin

Shortly after Manson, a second letter was sent by actors Martin Sheen, Janet Sheen, and John Cusack, along with philosopher Slavoj Žižek. They echoed Manson’s concerns, asking prison chief “as a person capable of compassion and moral choice” to stop Kriger’s isolation and allow him to serve his sentence among the general prison population.

Kriger family troubles extend beyond Mikhail’s imprisonment. His nephew, Artyom Kriger, worked as a journalist for the independent outlet Sota.vision, covering protests and political trials in Moscow. In April 2025, Artyom and three other journalists were sentenced to five and a half years in prison for “participating” in Alexei Navalny’s banned-as-“extremist” Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK).