Tolokonnikova's lawyers will contest her sentence - newspaper
MOSCOW. Nov 7 (Interfax) - The defense lawyers for Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, a member of the feminist punk group Pussy Riot, who was convicted to two years in prison for hooliganism (a crime enshrined by Part 2 of Article 213 of the Russian Criminal Code), will file an appeal with the Supreme Court to contest the sentence handed out to Tolokonnikova by the Khamovnichesky District Court, Vedomosti reported, citing lawyer Irina Khrunova.
"On Tuesday, the appeal was forwarded to the office of presidential human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin, who has agreed to back the appeal," Khrunova told Vedomosti.
Nikolai Vasilyeva, the head of the ombudsman's office, said the documents will be forwarded to the Supreme Court in several days. The work on the ombudsman's petition is now being completed, he said. The document takes into account the arguments presented by the Moscow City Court, which earlier found no reason to reconsider the sentence, Vasilyev said.
According to Vedomosti, the lawyers for Tolokonnikova continue proving that the sentence was handed out to Tolokonikova with violations.
The sentence is based on unacceptable evidence because the third expert evaluation was performed by experts from a non-state establishment, whose rights and responsibilities were not explained to them, the experts exceeded their specialist knowledge, and the court did not verify their qualifications, Khrunova told the paper.
The lawyer also said the court had failed to take into account that the actions committed by Tolokonnikova were non-violent and that Tolokonnikova was charged with actions she did not commit (dissemination of videos of the "punk prayer").
The lawyer also said the court had incorrectly calculated Tolokonnikova's term and gave her one extra day of imprisonment.
Khrunova believes the ombudsman's support will be a weighty argument.
Pussy Riot singers wearing masks staged a 'punk prayer' at the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow in February 2012. The action caused a public outcry. Three band members - Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Yekaterina Samutsevich and Maria Alyokhina - were charged with hooliganism.
The court sentenced the three singers to two years in a general penitentiary. Later on the Moscow City Court upheld the sentence on Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina and ordered a suspended sentence for Samutsevich.
