Pussy Riot’s Nadezhda Tolokonnikova Denied Parole

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Pussy Riot’s Nadezhda Tolokonnikova was denied parole on Friday from the penal colony where she is serving a two-year sentence on charges of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.

Tolokonnikova, who was arrested in March 2012 along with two other members of the band for their “punk prayer” protest against Vladimir Putin in Moscow’s main cathedral, had been eligible for early release after serving half of her sentence. The Associated Press reports that the judge in the case, Judge Lidiya Yakovleva, said that evidence demonstrated that Tolokonnikova did not deserve parole because she had “not always followed the rules of behavior” during her incarceration.

A deposition from the penal colony listed a penalty imposed on the musician for not saying hello to a prison official while she was in the hospital, and noted that she had once been reprimanded for refusing to go out for a walk while she was jailed in Moscow. The deposition described Tolokonnikova as “insensitive to ethics and conscience and thinking only about herself.”

Tolokonnikova told the court that the penal colony had opposed her parole on the grounds that she “didn’t repent.”

Tolokonnikova’s attorney Irina Khrunova said that she would appeal the decision on the grounds that the judge didn’t allow the defense team to make its final statements.