Punk band members face tough life in penal colony

“Everyone knows the rule: Trust no one,never fear and never forgive,’’ said Svetlana Bakhmina,a lawyer who spent three years in a penal colony. “You are in no-man’s land. Nobody will help you. You have to think about everything you say and do to remain a person.’’

Alekhina,24,Tolokonnikova,22,and Yekaterina Samutsevich,30,were convicted of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred for an impromptu performance in Moscow’s main cathedral as Putin headed into an election that handed him a third term as Russia’s president.

An appeals court released Samutsevich on Wednesday,but upheld the two-year prison terms of the others. The presiding judge said that “their correction is possible only in isolation from society.’’

In colonies for women,inmates live in barracks with 30 to 40 to a room. They begin the day by shuffling outside for compulsory exercises at daybreak,in temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius in winter. They spend seven to eight hours a day at work,usually hunched over sewing machines working on uniforms and other clothing.

Since there is only one women’s penal colony near Moscow,female prisoners from the capital are commonly sent to Mordovia — a swampy,mosquito-infested province on the Volga River.

Defence lawyers said Alekhina and Tolokonnikova would be transported to a penal colony within two weeks. The location was not yet known.

Mothers with children under the age of 3 can keep them in centers on penal colony grounds. Alekhina’s 5-year-old son and Tolokonnikova’s 4-year-old daughter will live with relatives.

Perhaps the greatest danger for the band members,however,will be posed by their fellow inmates. Physical violence,while a danger,is relatively rare in comparison to men’s colonies. But the psychological pressure can be greater,said Vitaly Borshchyov,head of the Public Monitoring Commission,a human rights organisation.

“Having a large group of women together in a single space is a recipe for tension and conflicts. You might get beaten up,sexually humiliated or forced to be someone’s lover,especially if you’re a young woman.’’