IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

'I have principles': Pussy Riot convict defiant after losing parole battle

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova of the punk band
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova of the punk bandSergei Karpukhin / Reuters

A jailed member of Russian female punk group Pussy Riot lost a court battle to be released but remained unrepentant over last year's protest against President Vladimir Putin in a Moscow cathedral.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova watched from behind the black metal bars of a courtroom cage as a regional court on Friday upheld an earlier decision not to release her after nearly a year in prison so that she could look after her five-year-old daughter.

Dressed in black, with the words "No Pasaran" (Spanish for "They shall not pass") written in white across her chest, she refused to plead guilty even though it might have won her favor in court.

"I do not admit guilt and will not plead guilty. I have principles upon which I will stand," she said from the cage, often used for defendants or convicts in Russian courts. Read the full story.

Related:

Russian punk band Pussy Riot releases video attacking Putin's oil ties

Newly crowned Miss Russia attacks Pussy Riot sentence