Pussy Riot member said to regain consciousness in hospital
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this file photo taken on July 23, Pyotr Verzilov, a member of the feminist protest group Pussy Riot, gestures during hearings in a court in Moscow, Russia. Russian news reports say Verzilov a member of Russian punk protest group Pussy Riot has been hospitalized in grave condition for what could be a possible poisoning.
MOSCOW >> A member of Russia’s Pussy Riot protest group says a fellow activist who was hospitalized for possible poisoning has regained consciousness.
Group member Maria Alekhina told The Associated Press via Facebook that Pyotr Verzilov regained consciousness today, but remained in intensive care. Verzilov has been in the hospital since falling ill Tuesday.
Alekhina said she thinks he definitely was poisoned and “there’s nothing other than politics” behind it.
Independent Russian news website Meduza reported Thursday that Verzilov’s doctors told his relatives he either overdosed on medicine or was given too much medicine. Meduza did not specify the substance.
Verzilov and other activists served 15-day jail sentences for disrupting July’s World Cup final to protest excessive Russian police powers.
