Court permits Pussy Riot's Alyokhina to call off her milder penalty plea
NIZHNY NOVGOROD. Oct 18 (Interfax) - The Avtozavodsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod has allowed Pussy Riot punk group member Maria Alyokhina to call off her petition requesting that her prison term be replaced by a milder penalty, an Interfax correspondent reported from the courtroom.
Alyokhina explained her decision by the fact that she does not want to take part in these court proceedings at a time when Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, the second convicted Pussy Riot performer, is in the hospital.
Tolokonnikova is currently in a penitentiary's hospital in the village of Barashevo in the Republic of Mordovia.
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 - Yekaterina Samutsevich, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina - were detained on charges of hooliganism. In August the court sentenced the three singers to two years in a medium security penitentiary.