Russian Court Denies Pussy Riot Member a Chance to Raise Her Son

Alyokhina had hoped to serve out her sentence after her son, Filipp, becomes a teenager. She argued that separating her from the boy at this early stage in his life would be psychologically damaging. But she wasn't willing to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence deferral. "No one will force me to say I'm guilty—I have nothing to repent for," Alyokhina said. The judge turned down her appeal, saying that the court responsible for her sentencing already knew about the effect it would have on her son.

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It's not like anyone was really expecting Alyokhina's deferral to be granted. According to the AP's Dmitry Kozlov and Nataliya Vasilyeva, "Sentence deferrals are uncommon. In fact, there are several prison colonies for female convicts with small children who raise their babies behind bars." But Alyokhina at least had a strong showing of support. A few dozen journalists and supporters came all the way to Berezniki—a small town way out in the Ural mountains—for the emotional hearing.

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For those keeping track of the fates dealt to each of the three convicted Pussy Riot members, Alyoknia is now scheduled to serve the rest of her two year sentence in Perm, far away from her young son; Nadya Tolokonnikova is still behind bars in the Mordovia prison camp 400 miles from Moscow; and Yekaterina Samutsevich remains free on a suspended sentence after firing her lawyers and convincing the judge to lower her punishment since guards threw her out of Christ the Savior Cathedral before Pussy Riot's "punk prayer" began. Apparently no one's listening to Dmitry Medvedev, who—along with countless Pussy Riot supporters around the world—has called for Pussy Riot's release a couple times already. 

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Inset photo: Maria Alyokhina just after her sentence deferral was denied (Sergey Ponomarev via Instagram).