Translated material
"Titushki" with St. George ribbons
In Nizhny Novgorod, unidentified people attacked Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina
In Nizhny Novgorod, unidentified people attacked Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina
Yesterday, the girls arrived in Nizhny Novgorod to visit IK-2, where Maria Alyokhina had previously served her sentence. They received information about the persecution by the administration of the colony of prisoners who objected to the "stealing of experience" (disregard for working days) and meager wages. “One has already been locked up in the ShIZO, the other has changed the conditions of detention,” says Nadezhda Tolokonnikova. The visit to the colonies is part of the human rights project "Zone of Rights", which the members of Pussy Riot announced after their release.
The attack took place at about 7 am at McDonald's, where the girls were having breakfast with activists from Nizhny Novgorod.
“A group of people comes in with St. George ribbons, with posters ( “Dirty whores, get out of the city.” - E.K. ), with a camera. They looked like… well, titties. Tracksuits, such thugs, well, and also an older person who supervised them, cameras, microphones. First, a tall man approached us from them and asked for an interview. They apparently planned to start the attack with an interview, but then decided differently. They shouted: "Get out of Nizhny Novgorod!" They had either paint or glue. As a result, a can of paint flew into Masha's head. Then they took out syringes and sprayed something right into our eyes. It was pretty scary because we stopped seeing. Then they kicked me a little more,” says Nadezhda Tolokonnikova.
Maria Alekhina received a concussion, the cut forehead had to be sewn up. Doctors diagnosed Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and another activist with a “chemical burn of the mucous membrane of the eyes” and prescribed treatment.
According to activists, the police did not arrive at the scene for about an hour and a half. Svetlana Kovylina, deputy head of the information department of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate for the Nizhny Novgorod Region, told the media that the investigation team arrived at the scene 10 minutes later, but did not find the girls: “However, all the necessary measures have been taken.” The activists who witnessed the attack have already given evidence to the investigator. They note that immediately after the attack, despite the early hour, photographs of the incident appeared on the Twitter of the head of the Nizhny Novgorod center "E" Trifonov.
The girls intend to visit the colony anyway. “We will talk to the prisoners, and then we will meet with a lawyer to help the prisoners prepare a class action lawsuit against the colony,” says Maria Alyokhina. - We will separately appeal the decision of the administration on ShIZO for those prisoners who contacted us. The story with the colony is a priority for us, we came here for this, the attack is an episode.”