MOSCOW, July 12 (RAPSI) - Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina is to be transferred from the prison in Berezniki to another one in Nizhny Novgorod, her attorney Irina Khrunova told RAPSI on Friday.

"This morning, they moved her to a remand center in Solikamsk [the third largest city in Perm Territory], saying it was necessary for her to attend a court hearing," Khrunova said. "However, I found out from talking with the prison staff that she will only remain there until July 18 and will be transferred to a women's prison in Nizhny Novgorod."

The Perm Court hearing of Alyokhina's appeal against the rejection of her request for parole, may not take place on July 24 as planned due to her transfer to another prison, the lawyer added.

Stanislav Volegov, a spokesman for the Federal Penitentiary Service in the Perm Territory, denied this information. She will be transferred to Perm to attend the hearing on July 24, Volegov told RIA Novosti.

In February 2012, five young women wearing brightly colored balaclavas staged a punk rock prayer in Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral. An edited video of their performance was posted on the Internet and caused a public outcry.

In August 2012, the Khamovnichesky District Court in Moscow sentenced Alyokhina and two other Pussy Riot members - Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich - to two years in a prison settlement on charges of hooliganism.

In October 2012, the Moscow City Court suspended Samutsevich's sentence and released her immediately based on her new attorneys' argument that she had been seized by security guards prior to reaching the altar.

The sentences of Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova were upheld.

In April 2013, the Zubova Polyana District Court in Mordovia rejected Tolokonnikova's request for parole. Alyokhina's request for parole was rejected by the Berezniki court on May 23.

Alyokhina went on a hunger strike which lasted 11 days to protest against the fact the she was not allowed to attend the hearing into her parole request.