CANADIAN ACTIVIST MAY HAVE BEEN POISONED

A Canadian member of the Russian protest group Pussy Riot may have been poisoned by an overdose of medication.

Independent news website Meduza reported Thursday that Pyotr Verzilov’s doctors told his relatives that he either overdosed on medicine or was given too much medicine. The report did not specify the substance.

Fellow Pussy Riot member Veronika Nikulshina said the report was accurate but wouldn’t comment further. She told the Meduza website Verzilov started losing his sight, speech and mobility. Friends insisted that Verzilov, a dual citizen of Russia and Canada, hadn’t been taking medications or using drugs. He has been hospitalized in Moscow since Tuesday.

Verzilov and other activists served 15-day jail sentences for disrupting July’s World Cup final to protest excessive Russian police powers.