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Materials on Pussy Riot criminal affair are published without permission of the punk band

Scandal over publication of a book about Pussy Riot took new turn

On Thursday, the scandal over the publication of a book about the punk band Pussy Riot, which member of the punk group Nadezhda Tolokonnikova allegedly wrote down, took a new turn, the Kommersant daily reported. The publishing house Algorithm published the correspondence that shows Tolokonnikova is not related to the book, but Pussy Riot former lawyers Mark Feigin, Nikolai Polozov and Violetta Volkova were negotiating on behalf of the Pussy Riot members. However, the lawyer rejected this fact.

The conflict over the publication of the book was stirred up on Wednesday. It was reported then that the book “Pussy Riot. How did it happen?” will be put on sale in the shops next week. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova was named as the author of the book. Meanwhile, Tolokonnikova’s husband Pyotr Verzilov stated that his wife has no relation to the book. The newspaper recalled that Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Mari Alekhina are serving a two-year sentence at the penitentiaries for the criminal action at the Christ the Saviour Cathedral, Yekaterina Samutsevich was sentenced on suspension.

On Thursday, the publishing house Algorithm acknowledged that it published the book without any permission of Pussy Riot, gave its apologies to the young women. However, Algorithm told the Kommersant daily that the agreement on the publication of the book was reached with the lawyers of the punk group. “A week before the verdict was pronounced to Pussy Riot (on August 18) I was speaking with the lawyers, they assured me that they have the rights to protect the rights of the punk band,” editor of the publishing house Yevgeny Buzev said. “We agreed on cooperation and began the correspondence,” he noted. The publishing house explained that though the book was signed by Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, it collected the materials from open sources: the postings in the Pussy Riot blog and their interviews. Meanwhile, the publishers agreed with the journalists, who took the interviews.

Lawyers Feigin, Polozov and Volkova have already turned out to be a tricky situation, after it was reported about the attempt to register the trademark Pussy Riot on a company of Feigin’s wife. Meanwhile, members of the punk band were unaware about the registration of the brand. This week lawyers Feigin, Polozov and Volkova stated about their quitting of the criminal case. Meanwhile, the Kommersant daily learnt that the conflict over the brand made the lawyers refuse from their clients.

“The publishing house apologized and said that they are ready to meet them halfway in order to settle the conflict without a trial,” Samutsevich’s lawyer Sergei Badamshin. “But the decision on further actions on this issue will be taken by the Pussy Riot members,” he underlined.