Alekhina was not released from the colony to see her child

The city court of the city of Berezniki, Perm Territory, refused Maria Alekhina a deferment of punishment, which her defense requested due to the fact that Alekhina has a small child. Lawyer Oksana Darova petitioned for the release of the Pussy Riot member until Alekhina’s son Philip turns 14 years old.

During the hearing, Alekhina spoke and spoke about the penalties imposed on her in the colony. As she herself said, there were six penalties in total, and she did not agree with any of them. The day before, Alekhina’s friends, human rights activists and members of the Public Chamber arrived in Perm.

The meeting started an hour later than planned. Police posts and an ambulance were set up in advance near the courthouse. Maria Alyokhina's interests were represented by lawyer Oksana Darova. The prosecutor, as expected, opposed the postponement and added that a similar position was expressed by the leadership of the colony where Maria Alekhina is serving her sentence. Alekhina herself, speaking with the last word at the trial , said that she was sure that she would be denied a reprieve. Alyokhina noted that in light of the adoption of the “anti-orphan” law, she would not be surprised if her child was “deprived of what is necessary.” But she still added: “I would really like a small miracle to happen today.” The meeting lasted almost 5 hours in total. After considering the case, judge Galina Efremova rejected Alekhina.

Maria Alyokhina received two years in prison for her action in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in women's correctional colony No. 28 in Berezniki. Initially, they wanted to consider Alekhina’s petition directly in the colony, but the lawyer and human rights activists managed to move the consideration to the city court.

Another member of the Pussy Riot group, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, who is currently serving a sentence in a prison in Mordovia, also filed a petition to defer her sentence. She, like Alekhina, has a small child - five-year-old Hera. PublicPost spoke with Pyotr Verzilov, who was in the Perm court when the court decision was announced.

Pyotr Verzilov, husband of prisoner Nadezhda Tolokonnikova:

"We are waiting for Masha to be taken out. The hearing took place under conditions of extreme openness. In this regard, the Bereznyakovsky City Court was great for complying with the conditions and holding such an open hearing. This is cool. But everything was predictable. Everyone expected that in conditions when the number of political prisoners is increasing every month, there is no hope that Masha will be released today. There were a lot of journalists, a lot of attention.

- Nadezhda also submitted a similar petition.

Yes, Nadya also filed a lawsuit in the Zubovo-Polyansky court. We expect this to happen in the next two to three weeks.

- Do you think there are any chances?

Not either. There is always hope, but as you can see, it is insignificant and is not realized."

Europe in support of Alekhina

Today, rallies in support of Pussy Riot are due to take place in several world capitals, including Paris, London, Berlin and Prague. Alexey Prokopyev, one of the founders of the Russie Libertés organization, told PublicPost that Russie Libertés, together with Amnestie International France, is organizing a rally and concert this evening. Russie Libertés regularly holds solidarity actions with Russian political prisoners and rallies in support of the Russian opposition in Paris. Activists of the local human rights movement “Speak Louder” gathered in London in support of Maria Alekhina, with the participation of Andrei Sidelnikov.