Nadia Tolokonnikova and Masha Alyokhina No Longer Members of Pussy Riot

“We lost two friends, two ideological fellow member, but the world has acquired two brave, interesting, controversial human rights defenders.”

Last night, the two recently freed members of Pussy Riot, Masha Alyokhina and Nadia Tolokonnikova, appeared on stage at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center at Amnesty International’s Bringing Human Rights Home Concert. They were introduced by Madonna. But hours prior to the concert, other, anonymous members of Pussy Riot emailed an open letter to supporters, and posted it on their Livejournal. The letter stated that Nadia and Masha are no longer part of Pussy Riot. (Both women have stated as much in interviews, as they refocus their efforts on prison reform).

“We are very pleased with Masha’s and Nadia’s release,” the letter reads. “We are proud of their resistance against harsh trials that fell to their lot, and their determination by all means to continue the struggle that they had started during their stay in the colonies.”

“Unfortunately for us,” it continues, “they are being so carried away with the problems in Russian prisons, that they completely forgot about the aspirations and ideals of our group—feminism, separatist resistance, fight against authoritarianism and personality cult, all of which, as a matter of fact, was the cause for their unjust punishment.”

In the open letter, the anonymous members note that Nadia and Masha have refused to communicate with them. They expressed frustration with how the media has continued to refer to them as members of Pussy Riot, and said “the apotheosis of this misunderstanding” was last night’s Amnesty International concert. It continued:

more: Pitchfork