A Pussy Riot member and activist has been released from prison in Croatia after the group rallied for her release in fear she would be given the death penalty.
Originally from Turkmenistan, 49-year-old Aysoltan Niyazova was arrested at the Croatian border on 29 May 2022.
From 2011, Ms Niyazova spent six years in jail after being arrested on alleged “trumped-up” charges of having embezzled $20 million from the Central Bank of Turkmenistan, despite having no connection to the bank.
Ms Niyazova believes she was targeted after her father was killed during the 2000s because of his opposition to Turkmen president Saparmurat Niyazov.
She became a Pussy Riot member in prison after meeting Masha Alyokhina, a group member who was jailed for her “Punk Prayer” performance in 2012.
After prison she went to live in Moscow.
She fled the Russian capital on March 5 following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and went to Switzerland where her son lives.
She stayed there for a month and a half and then joined Pussy Riot on their tour of Europe. Ms Alyokhina had fled Russia after the war started in February by disguising herself as a food courier to get over the border. Pussy Riot went to Berlin to perform in May and from there to Croatia where Ms Niyazova was arrested.
Her detention by the authorities was reported on Instagram by fellow Pussy Riot member Olga Borisova, who said that Ms Niyazova was not provided with a lawyer or an interpreter for her trial in Croatia on 30 May.
“I didn’t have enough time to realise what was going on with this arrest,” she said. “The only thing I felt was the injustice of the whole situation.”
The activist was denied her right to one phone call and was told by the judge that she would be sent immediately to prison for 40 days.
The prison staff has also denied her a care parcel and warm clothes.
“I wasn’t afraid of being extradited, because I was sure that Croatia is a country with human rights and democracy.
“But I was offended that the judge did not listen to me. I was in court for only twenty minutes and nobody was with me.
“After twenty minutes, I was imprisoned.”
Since being released from prison in Croatia, Ms Niyazova has been speaking about women’s rights and LGBTQ pride in Croatia.
She now hopes to move to Lithuania where she hopes to get a humanitarian visa so she can continue to stay in the EU.
