Pussy Riot's MediaZona Partners With The Guardian

The Guardian's New East network and Russia's MediaZona, the news network founded by Pussy Riot members Nadya Tolokonnikova, Masha Alekhina and Petya Verzilov, have formed a partnership to syndicate reporting about Russia's prison system.

"We thank The Guardian for participating in our goal to make Russian news more transparent and accessible for everybody in and out of the country," said the women. "We trust that even more eyes will bring more attention and raise questions about the topics that are important to us at MediaZona."

The first publication is about a woman who served 16 years inside a Russian jail. The story follows Tatyana Gavrilova, convicted of murder in 1999. Upon her release from prison, she told MediaZona of the ongoing abuse inside the country's notorious penal system, and her determination to fight to improve the rights of inmates.

"Since our release from prison six months ago, we've felt that Russian media are no longer able to cover what is going on," said Tolokonnikova. "Because of the heavy censorship by authorities there is no space for anything in the media that criticizes Putin's policies and tracks human rights abuses by Russian courts and law enforcement."

The news outlet is intended to work hand-in-hand with Tolokonnikova and Alekhina's prisoners rights NGO, Zona Prava ("Justice Zone"), which was launched earlier in March and is focused on protecting prisoners' rights. The news outlet has a team of the best journalists in Russia, including Editor-in-Chief Sergey Smirnov, Russia's best political and social news editor, as well as the reporters Elena Shmaraeva (former Gazeta.ru, TvRain), Egor Skovoroda (former "Bolshoi Gorod," "Russkaya Planeta," "The New Times"), Maria Klimova (former Polit.ru, "Russkaya Planeta"), and features pieces by the Pussy Riot crew themselves.

MediaZona covers courts, prisons, arrests, convictions, riots in penitentiary facilities, political criminal cases, crimes by law enforcement officials, life of present-day and former prisoners and many other things.

"At a time when independent media in Russia is under unprecedented attack, Mediazona is an invaluable source of genuine journalism," said ??Luke Harding, the Guardian's former Moscow bureau chief. "Its stories -- on subjects ranging from conditions in penal colonies to Russia's Soviet-style court system -- are necessary and important. I'm delighted that Mediazona is working in partnership with the Guardian's New East Network."

"There is hardly any political issues left in Russia outside of courtrooms -- and there is a great need for transparency and media coverage of things that are happening down there, so we hope that Mediazona will help close that gap and change the face of independent Russian media," added Alekhina.

MediaZona began publishing in September 2014 with coverage about the launch featured in publications including "Vanity Fair," "Daily Dot," "Elle," "BBC" and "Mashable."

The New East network is a collaboration between the Guardian and a series of specialist sites writing from and about the 15 countries that used to be part of the Soviet Union. Together with their partners the network hopes to expand the conversation about the region that they call the New East, and move beyond the polarized debate of East v. West. They feature articles from their partners as well as the Guardian's correspondents, commission exclusive pieces from regional experts and republish interesting work from around the web, often translating local languages into English as well as some work into Russian.

"We're pleased to have joined forces with MediaZona, our latest partners on the New East network," said New East editor Judith Soal. "The network was launched in June this year to expand the coverage and debate about the post-Soviet region, in a crucial time of its history. We delighted to have MediaZona on board." ?

Below, watch Pussy Riot's 2012 performance at a Moscow church, which caused them to be arrested for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred." Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina are suing the Russian government for this imprisonment, alleging torture and a violation of their rights.