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Mordovia Authorities Dismiss Tolokonnikova's Demand to Prosecute Prison Official

Authorities in the republic of Mordovia have turned down a request from convicted Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova to open a criminal case against the deputy head of the penal colony where she was being held until Wednesday.

The prison's deputy chief has not been found to have acted unlawfully, Natalya Afanasyeva, senior deputy head of the Investigative Committee's regional office, told RIA Novosti Thursday.

In September Tolokonnikova accused deputy head Yury Kupriyanov of having threatened to kill her and began a hunger strike demanding the official to be charged and protesting conditions at the colony.

The Federal Prison Service said Tolokonnikova's accusations are a result of denying her preferential treatment at the facility.

On Wednesday Tolokonnikova was transferred to another colony out of "safety concerns", prison officials said. Tolokonnikova's husband said on his Twitter account that she was moved to a penal colony in the neighboring republic of Chuvashia.

Tolokonnikova and two other members of the Pussy Riot group, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich, were convicted for staging an anti-Putin performance at Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral in February 2012.

Samutsevich's sentence was later suspended on appeal.

Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova are set to be released in March 2014.

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