Story highlights
- A Russian court denied parole for Maria Alyokhina, a jailed member of Pussy Riot
- Alyokhina and her defense team plan to appeal the Berezniki City Court's decision
- She said she was on hunger strike because she was not allowed to appear in person
A Russian court denied parole for Maria Alyokhina, a jailed member of the Pussy Riot punk band, state news agency Itar-Tass said Thursday.
Alyokhina and her defense team plan to appeal the Berezniki City Court's decision, the news outlet said.
The rock musician was sentenced to two years in prison in August for performing a song critical of then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in an Orthodox cathedral last year.
Alyokhina had been barred from attending a parole hearing in person, and participated in a Wednesday court proceeding via teleconference from prison. She told a the court Wednesday she was on hunger strike because she was not allowed to appear in person.
Pussy Riot family speaks out 04:37
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, another band member, also received a two-year sentence in August for performing the song. Yekaterina Samutsevich, a third member of the band, was sentenced at the same time. But she was freed from prison last October.
