Russian punk star’s case against jail warden collapses

Officials in Russia have dismissed calls from jailed Pussy Riot star Nadezhda Tolokonnikova to prosecute a prison warden she accuses of threatening her. The punk activist, who is serving a two-year sentence in Mordovia for hooliganism, has been on an on/off hunger strike behind bars over her treatment.
Earlier this month (Oct13) she alleged a deputy warden at the prison colony had threatened her life for speaking out against the conditions, and she demanded officials launch a probe into the incident.
However, on Thursday (24Oct13) the Senior Executive Assistant of the regional Investigation Department of the Investigation Committee dismissed the request.
Tolokonnikova and two Pussy Riot bandmates – Maria Alekhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich – were jailed for two years each last year (12) over a protest against President Vladimir Putin at a church in Moscow.
Samutsevich was free in October last year (12) when her sentence was commuted. Tolokonnikova and Alekhina are due for release in March (14).