Story highlights
Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova loses her bid to be released on parole
She was given a 2-year sentence for hooliganism last year
Band members were tried for performing a song critical of then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
A court denied parole for a jailed member of Russian punk rock band Pussy Riot on Friday, state media reported.
The Supreme Court of the Mordovia region upheld an earlier decision to deny Nadezhda Tolokonnikova’s parole, the official RIA Novosti news agency said.
Tolokonnikova was given a 2-year sentence for hooliganism after a trial in August that was criticized by international rights groups.
She is one of three women tried last year for performing a song critical of then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in an Orthodox cathedral. Video footage of their so-called “punk prayer” was posted online.
State-run court news agency Rapsi cited an attorney as saying Tolokonnikova would not appeal the court’s ruling on parole.
Fellow defendant Maria Alyokhina, who was also sentenced to two years in prison, was denied bail in May. She planned to appeal the ruling.
Yekaterina Samutsevich, a third member of the band, was sentenced at the same time as the two, but was freed from prison in October after her defense presented new evidence.
May: Jailed Pussy Riot member declares hunger strike
CNN’s Boriana Milanova contributed to this report.
