Pussy Riot’s Maria Alyokhina has been denied parole by a Russian court, after they stated that she had disobeyed prison officials and failed to repent for her misdemeanours.
Alyokhina has been on hunger strike in jail for several weeks, and this decision comes a month after her fellow band member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova was also denied parole.
Alyokhina’s mother Natalia has been discussing the court’s decision, telling Svoboda Radio , “This looked not like a court hearing but like arm-twisting. Clearly the court was not interested in the character of the convict, because the decision was likely made in advance.”
Alyokhina wasn’t even allowed to attend to her own parole hearing on Wednesday, and was even ordered by her lawyer to not attend. This is despite the fact that Tolokonnikova was able to be present for her hearing last month.
Rock legends Peter Gabriel and Paul McCartney have sent a handwritten letter to the judge urging the court to free Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova.
The letter stated, “I believe that you are granting this request would send a very positive message to all the people who have followed this case.”
It then added, “My personal belief is that further incarceration for Maria will be harmful for her and the situation as a whole, which, of course, is being watched by people all over the world.”
Pussy Riot were arrested after they played a “punk prayer” at Moscow’s main cathedral in 2012. These were in protest against Russian president, Vladimir Putin, during the politician’s re-election campaign.
The band’s third member, Yekaterina Samutsevich, saw her sentence suspended in October, however they kept Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova’s jail terms in tact.
This decision, which saw the pair jailed for two years, was met with widespread condemnation from across the world.
Do you think that Alyokhina should have been released from jail?