Video evidence appears to show a group of men violently interrupting Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alyokhina’s breakfast in a restaurant near the Nizhny Novgorod train station. Nadya and Masha, who were joined by other members of the new prisoners’ rights NGO “Zone of the Rights,” say they were in the city to inspect a local prison colony.
Their assailants charged into the restaurant, carrying a sign saying “Dirty whores out of our town,” and allegedly attacked the activists with pepper spray, green antiseptic and other projectiles.
Following the incident, Nadya Tolokonnikova tweeted images of medical records showing she received treatment for eye injuries. Masha Alyokhina reportedly needed stitches and suffered from a concussion.
The attack appears to have been premeditated by an organized group: the assailants chanted slogans, held aloft a banner and filmed the entire incident.
Amnesty is calling on the Russian authorities to promptly launch an independent and impartial investigation into an apparently unprovoked and premeditated attack.
The attack appears to have been premeditated by an organized group: the assailants chanted slogans, held aloft a banner and filmed the entire incident.
The Russian authorities must not tolerate such attacks on peaceful activists. They must launch a prompt, impartial and independent investigation into this and all such incidents, and bring those responsible to justice.