Jailed Pussy Riot punk ends eight-day hunger strike

A jailed member of Russian punk band Pussy Riot today ended an eight-day hunger strike she had staged to draw attention to what she called "slave labour conditions" in prison.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova was jailed for two years in August 2012, alongside fellow band member Maria Alyokhina, on "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" charges stemming from a protest they held against President Vladimir Putin in Moscow's main cathedral.
Their punishment drew international condemnation and turned the pair into a symbol of political repression under Putin -- a former KGB spy who has tolerated little dissent during his 13 years in power.

The regional prison authority in the republic of Mordovia where Tolokonnikova is serving time said the 23-year-old "ended the hunger strike and started consuming food" today morning.
Tolokonnikova was moved to a local hospital on Sunday and put on a drip the following day due to general weakness associated with her strike.
The prison service said Tolokonnikova's health was now "stable".

Russian human rights activist and leftist parliament member Ilya Ponomaryov confirmed the information after paying a brief visit to her hospital today.
She "stopped her hunger strike for medical reasons," Ponomaryov tweeted.
Tolokonnikova announced her hunger strike after releasing an open letter in which she described harrowing conditions at her prison and claimed that she had received death threats for complaining.