Imprisoned Pussy Riot members say they have no regrets in interview with Russian paper

MOSCOW – Two imprisoned members of the Pussy Riot feminist punk band say they have no regrets about the irreverent protest against President Vladimir Putin at Moscow’s main cathedral that landed them behind bars for two years.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina described harsh prison conditions in an interview published Wednesday in the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper and said they don’t expect clemency from authorities.

Tolokonnikova is quoted as saying that the main thing she misses at her prison colony is the ability to read feely. She says she is reading the Bible and philosophy books but that prison conditions leave little room for that.

Alekhina, who is serving her sentence in a different colony, complains of systematic violation of human rights by the prison administration.