A court has rejected an appeal by a member of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot against a previous court ruling that denied her an early release.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has served a year out of her two-year prison sentence and was appealing for parole so she could care for her 5-year-old daughter. Along with two other band members, she was convicted of hooliganism following Pussy Riot’s punk performance against President Vladimir Putin in Moscow’s main cathedral last year.
Another member of the band, Maria Alekhina, was denied a similar parole request days earlier. A third member, Yekaterina Samutsevich, was freed in October when a judge suspended her sentence.
Representatives of the penal colony where Tolokonnikova is serving her term told the court that she should not be released because she never repented. In brief comments, the Pussy Riot member remained vigilant.
“I do not admit guilt and will not plead guilty,” she said from court while seated in a cage. “I have principles upon which I will stand.”