Russian court rejects Pussy Riot appeal

A court has rejected an appeal by a member of Russian punk band Pussy Riot against a previous ruling which denied her an early release.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has served a year and a half out of her two-year prison sentence and was appealing for parole.

Along with two other band members, she was convicted of hooliganism following Pussy Riot’s punk performance against President Vladimir Putin in Moscow’s main cathedral last year.

Representatives of the penal colony where Tolokonnikova is serving her sentence told the court that she should not be released because she has never repented.

The Pussy Riot member said she would never plead guilty because she did the right thing.