“This might be hard to understand, but I'm actually grateful to the leadership of Russia for providing me with this experience of being in jail. I think I became a freer person as a result and understood many things that will now enable us to work on fixing this prison system,” said Masha. She added an interesting thought later:
“Russia isn't necessarily that different from any other country, but there are two factors that come into play: The first is that if you regularly have the protest beaten out of you by the riot police, of course it's natural that you will eventually back down and take a more passive stance. And the second is that people don't believe that change is possible in Russia, and I think one of the things that is vital to turn this situation around — because it can be turned around fairly quickly — but for that we need free media, we need free speech, we need channels that will give the opposition a voice.”
The two married ladies were just released from jail after spending nearly two years in a penal colony in Russia. They were convicted after a performance at a Moscow church in 2012. Both are dedicated to continue their combat as Nadya, in the interview, said:
“We are planning on going back to Russia, and the reason we are in a hurry to go right now is we have some very important things to do in support of those who are still jailed (…)”
