Tolokonnikova insists head of UFSIN for Mordovia should leave his post
KRASNOYARSK. Dec 23 (Interfax) - Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, a member of the feminist punk group Pussy Riot, who was amnestied on Monday, said she intends to campaign for the improvement of the situation in the penal colonies of Mordovia.
"A lot depends on the head of the department of the Federal Service for the Enforcement of Punishments (UFSIN) of the region. The situation in Krasnoyarsk is much better than in Mordovia. I would like to work on making Simchenkov [the head of the department of the Federal Service for the Enforcement of Punishments for Mordovia] leave his post. Nothing will change in Mordovia as long as he is in power," Tolokonnikova told reporters.
"They are covering each other's backs in that region. The prosecutor says he doesn't see anything, although a huge commission visited there several days before and found a huge number of violations," she said.
"The prosecutor's statement that there are no violations is cynical. I will fight to ensure that all these violations be recognized and corrected because there are people there [in the penal colony] who are dear to me. I would like to stand up for them," Tolokonnikova said.
Tolokonnikova said there are FSIN officials who are fulfilling their duties honestly.
"I am by no means speaking about all [FSIN] officials. I also saw when I was imprisoned that they can serve honestly. I would like the number of such officials to be higher. However, there are officials who violate our rights every day. For this reason, we need to fight for good living conditions, including psychological," Tolokonnikova said.
"Inmates should be treated as normal people, and they should maybe even get more attention. They shouldn't be treated as outcasts of society, like it happened in Mordovia," Tolokonnikova said.