Article content continued

But Thursday the tale took another surprising twist with the possibility that one of the three feminist rockers is a permanent resident of Canada whose husband is reportedly Russian-Canadian. A Canadian blogger posted footage online of Russian authorities interrogating Nadezhda Tolokonnikova in which the 22-year-old denies being a permanent resident — despite being shown what looks like an official Permanent Resident Card in her name.

According to a translation obtained by the National Post, Ms. Tolokonnikova said she visited Canada on a visitor’s visa, apparently in 2011, but that she had planned to stay in Russia and “fight.”

“I was in Canada and I have the right for this, but I have not received permanent residency,” she said in Russian.

[np_storybar title=”Russian authorities interrogating Nadezhda Tolokonnikova: Video” link=”#1″][/np_storybar]

About one minute into the five-minute video, though, authorities zoom in on what looks like a copy of an official Permanent Resident Card issued by the Government of Canada — in her name, and bearing what appears to be her photo.

Canada’s Department of Citizenship and Immigration said it could not confirm or deny someone’s immigration status because of privacy reasons, and that “it is not possible for us to verify whether the card being shown in the video is legitimate.”

Spokeswoman Nancy Caron said in an email that in order to get a card, a person must be a permanent resident of Canada and must be physically in the country. To maintain the status, an immigrant has to live in Canada for at least two years within a five-year period. The Permanent Resident Card that appears to be in Ms. Tolokonnikova’s name expires on April 5, 2016.