Russia on Thursday declared Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, a founding member of the Pussy Riot band, and prominent satirist Viktor Shenderovich “foreign agents” as authorities press ahead with a crackdown on dissent. The justice ministry also added to its list of “foreign agents” six other figures including journalist Taisiya Bekbulatova, art collector Marat Gelman and Veronika Nikulshina, another Pussy Riot member. “These people systematically distribute materials to an indefinite circle of persons, while receiving foreign funds,” the ministry said in a statement. Tolokonnikova, 32, is one of three members of Pussy Riot who were sentenced to two years in prison after they sang a “Punk Prayer” denouncing the Russian Orthodox Church’s close ties with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow’s central Church of Christ the Saviour in February 2012.
via rawstory: Russia labels Pussy Riot members, satirist ‘foreign agents’
