The following statement has been released by FSIN:

In connection with the appeal that has been received by the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) from the convict Tolokonnikova about ensuring her personal security, the department of management has made the decision to relocate her from the IR -14 FPS of Russia in the Republic of Mordovia to another prison facility.

Also, below is the full text of Nadya’s October 12 statement.

Translation by The Voice Project

Letter:

Yesterday, Friday, October 11, for the first time in two weeks, I was allowed to see my lawyer. Before that, first at Penal Colony No. 14 and then at Correctional Medical Treatment Facility 21, I was in a total ‘information blockade.’ This was not, as the Federal Penitentiary Service claimed, necessitated by my medical condition. They said that I was in no condition to see anyone; however, this whole time, I have in fact been seeing the staff of these facilities. From conversations with the senior prison administration, it became clear to me that the reasons behind the blockade were political and not medical.

I want to make a declaration to everyone who has taken part in isolating me: If you think that not speaking with my allies will make me more pliable and prepared to change my stance on the conditions in the Mordovian prison camps, which I have come to during my time in jail, you are grossly mistaken. When you squeeze me and violate my rights, including my legal right to meet with my attorney, I only become more unyielding in my position on the Mordovian prison camps.

I am grateful to those who supported my protest against the human rights violations in Mordovian prison camps, instances of cynical lawlessness disguised as economic efficiency. A human being is not a means, they are an end. Intimidation and humiliation cannot be a methods of education and correction.

Since Soviet times, the Mordovian camps have been the state’s last resort for breaking the will of political prisoners who had not repented during their trials. I am glad that I have a modicum of influence over current situation in the camps, that I can strive to take this torture instrument out of the hands of the state. I honor the memory of Marchenko and Galanskov, dissidents who died in the Soviet camps. I am proud of what they achieved.

I am grateful to my lawyers and allies for continuing to publicize my protest. I do not think anyone would have thought to blame, say, Larisa Bogoraz, when she told people about the actions of Yuli Daniel in the Mordovian prison camps. This is an expression of basic civic duty and ethical behavior toward one’s comrades.

I am grateful to the human rights commissions that have visited Penal Colony 14 since I announced my hunger strike. I am glad that basic honesty has prevented them from denying the obvious, the gross violations of the labor and penal codes in PC-14, violations that are impossible to ignore. Some of them listened to me carefully, while one representative, who didn’t even introduce himself (I later realized that it was Eugene Myslovsky, a former special prosecutor from the Prosecutor General’s Office of the RSFSR), tried to leave as soon as possible without even listening to my arguments and grievances, relying on the testimony of the camp authorities.

I am insulted by the conclusion drawn by some members of the Presidential Council on Human Rights that my hunger strike was initiated from the outside. What disrespect and disregard for me these people must have to make such a statement! This is my sentence, my struggle, my rights, my health, and my life. I could have renounced my political views and repented a year and a half ago during the investigation stage, like dissidents Yakir and Krasin did in 1973. I would have gone free. However, there was nothing that could have made me do it. I have chosen the path of consistency and honesty. How could anyone think that I would allow myself to act according to another person’s script, to be a limp puppet in someone else’s hands?

I hope that the human rights inspectors visiting the Mordovian camps will not limit themselves to these short visits to PC-14. I know that human rights violations are also happening in the other prison camps under the jurisdiction of our federal penitentiary administration. I have seen the quiet eyes, full of horror and doom, of the women leaving PC-2 , the woman’s prison in the village of Yavas near my former camp. Unlike PC-14, where the administration prefers to punish dissenters with the hands of their fellow prisoners, PC-2 staff administer the beatings themselves, suppressing all resistance, sending all uncooperative prisoners to solitary confinement where they are met with only two things: the cold and more beatings.

I appeal to those who support human rights in Russia. The prison camps are also a part of Russia. Furthermore, there is the commonly held notion that the prison is the face of the nation. I hope that the camp system in Mordovia, which I have been brought to by fate, will change dramatically for the better. The only reason most inmates remain silent is that they do not believe that anything can be done. Many here do not believe human rights activists, commissions and, especially prosecutors from the Federal Penitentiary Administration. Why? Because their reports come and go, and we remain here, prisoners of the same broken system. We need help from the human rights defenders who are prepared for a long, serious struggle.

Today, truthful testimony about the situation in the camps can only be provided by kamikaze prisoners willing to face the prison administration’s retribution. It is not surprising that there are very few of them. I believe that the real efforts to reinstate the rights of prisoners can only begin once providing honest testimony is no longer an act of heroism. We the convicted need to have a guarantee that the day after the commission leaves, the whistle-blower will not be destroyed, morally or physically. Creating a safe environment, of course, is the duty of a human rights defender who has respect for himself and his work.

First of all, we need to create a permanent monitoring system and provisions for security guarantees in Mordovia. Only when we achieve this can we begin to investigate what is really happening in the prison colonies. I believe that we can achieve improved living and working conditions for the convicts here in Mordovia and throughout Russia.I am ready to do everything in my power for this, but my faith and desire are not enough. I really need your help.

I thank you in advance.
Penitentiary Hospital Correctional Medical Treatment Facility 21 [LPU 21]
Barashevo, Mordovia
Nadia Tolokonnikova

The Voice Project’s Pussy Riot Support Fund is an international fund taking in donations from around the world; proceeds are used to keep Nadya and Masha clothed, supplied, visited and monitored in the labor camps (this is critical for their ongoing safety), and for their legal expenses and children’s care. For more information or to donate: voiceproject.org/pussyriot