Two years in jail for Pussy Riot members is a lawful term and the case has no political connotation, Moscow City Court ruled, dismissing the supervisory appeal by defense. Two members remain in prison for their \u2018punk prayer\u2019 in Moscow\u2019s main cathedral.<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThere are no politics, they are just hooligans,\u201d<\/i> the
\n chairwoman of the court, Olga Yegorova, said after the hearing.\n<\/p>\n
\n Yegorova has ruled that in August 2012 the court appropriately
\n sentenced members of the \u2018feminist punk band\u2019 Pussy Riot \u2014
\n Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina (along with Ekaterina
\n Samutsevich, whose term was later changed on suspended one) to
\n two years in prison for aggravated \u2018hooliganism motivated by
\n religious hatred\u2019. Despite Alyokhina having a child, she was
\n still denied parole.\n<\/p>\n
\n The trial was held after the group performed what they called a
\n \u2018punk prayer\u2019 in Moscow\u2019s main cathedral, chanting the song
\n \u2018Mother of God send Putin Away\u2019, recording it and posting the
\n video on the internet.\n<\/p>\n
\n The lawyer for the other jailed Pussy Riot members, Irina
\n Khrunova, considered the ruling \u201cpredictable\u201d<\/i> and said she
\n was now going to file a complaint with the Russian Supreme Court.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I won\u2019t comment on actions or words of the chairwoman of the
\n Moscow City Court, I will, however, continue to fight
\n injustice,”<\/i> Khrunova told Interfax.\n<\/p>\n
\n The defense insists that the clients must be fully acquitted as
\n their crime was of a non-violent nature and caused no material
\n damage. Another complaint is that there were alleged procedural
\n violations during the investigation and the trial process itself.\n<\/p>\n
\n The women themselves also deny all charges saying that the gig
\n was a political protest against the ties between Russian
\n authorities and the leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church.\n<\/p>\n
\n A Russian court earlier denied Alyokhina\u2019s request for early \n On Tuesday, less than a week after she declared a hunger strike, \n \u201cShe still refuses food,\u201d<\/i> the FSIN said.\n<\/p>\n
\n release, filed seven months after the sentence was passed.
\n Moreover, she was not allowed to be present at the hearing. In
\n protest against a court\u2019s decision not to allow her to personally
\n attend a hearing, Alyokhina declared a hunger strike<\/a>. As the appeal concluded, she vowed to
\n continue with her hunger strike.\n<\/p>\n
\n Alyokhina was reportedly transferred to a medical station in a
\n penal colony in Perm Region, where she is serving her sentence.
\n Russia\u2019s Federal Service for Execution of Punishment (FSIN) has
\n confirmed the information that was initially tweeted by
\n Tolokonnikova\u2019s husband, activist Pyotr Verzilov.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n