Pussy Riot Member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova Has Her Parole Request Rejected

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova the second jailed member of the Art/Punk band Pussy Riot has been denied parole by the court in Saransk who ruled that she had not repented for her crime of hooliganism after singing a protest song against President Vladimir Putin in Moscow’s main cathedral. Last week an identical ruling was delivered against bandmate Maria Alyokhina.

The women had been incarcerated in penal colonies for two years and are not eligible for parole until next year.The artists were used to set a political example to others  for protesting against the near dictatorial regime of hardliner President Vladimir Putin.They were convicted of a public order offence motivated by ‘religious hatred’ for their protest/performance of an anti Putin ‘Punk Prayer’ inside Christ The Saviour Cathedral in February of last year.

The Pussys have received support from public figures such as Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi, Madonna and Jamie Reid the graphic designer who created the visuals for the original punk band, ‘The Sex Pistols’. Reid created a poster for Pussy Riot which has been reproduced internationally creating a visual focus to define their struggle. The judge in the case stated that the women had “crudely undermined social order” and shown a “complete lack of respect”,during their actions. The Members of the band have always professed that their “punk prayer” was a political act in protest, against Church leader’s support of President Vladimir Putin, not an act against the Church itself. Conditions in jail for the two women has been described as tough and draconian, at the work camps located in Perm and Mordovia, east of Moscow. Those areas were traditionally used for mass prison colonies in the Soviet era.

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