MOSCOW, July 3 (RAPSI) - The Perm Territorial Court will hear Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina's appeal against the rejection of her parole bid on July 24, her attorney Irina Khrunova told RAPSI on Wednesday.
The Berezniki City Court in the Perm Territory rejected Alyokhina's request for release on parole in late May. According to her lawyer, Alyokhina is unlikely to attend the hearing in person. "She has asked to be escorted to court, but this is unlikely to be organized," Khrunova added.
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 changed Samutsevich's verdict to a suspended 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 of her parole request.