Court Denies Pussy Riot Member Parole
ZUBOVA POLYANA – A Russian court on Friday rejected Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova’s application for parole. Tolokonnikova’s defense will appeal the ruling, lawyer Irina Khrunova told RAPSI. The defense argued that Tolokonnikova has a small child, has had no conflicts with other convicts and would readily be employed in the event of her release. In Friday’s ruling, the judge ruled in favor of the penitentiary authorities, who said Tolokonnikova did not deserve parole as she had not admitted her guilt and had a record of breaking the penal colony’s regulations. “Analysis of the convict’s conduct showed that she had not always observed the rules of conduct. She has two disciplinary penalties not yet removed from official records.”
ZUBOVA POLYANA – A Russian court on Friday rejected Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova’s application for parole. Tolokonnikova’s defense will appeal the ruling, lawyer Irina Khrunova told RAPSI. The defense argued that Tolokonnikova has a small child, has had no conflicts with other convicts and would readily be employed in the event of her release. In Friday’s ruling, the judge ruled in favor of the penitentiary authorities, who said Tolokonnikova did not deserve parole as she had not admitted her guilt and had a record of breaking the penal colony’s regulations. “Analysis of the convict’s conduct showed that she had not always observed the rules of conduct. She has two disciplinary penalties not yet removed from official records.”
The judge also complained that Nadia Tolokonnikova had not repented. However, there is no provision in Russian law which requires repentance as a condition of parole. I believe she will serve her full two year sentence at the Mordovia penal colony (about 550km southeast of Moscow).
Comment