Russian court turns down Pussy Riot appeal

 In this Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012 file photo, feminist punk group Pussy Riot members, from left, Yekaterina Samutsevich, Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova sit in a glass cage at a court room in Moscow, Russia. A Russian court is weighing Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013 whether Maria Alekhina can serve the remainder of her two-year sentence when her 5-year-old son is 14. Alekhina is petitioning the court in Berezniki, a remote Ural mountains town near where she is serving her sentence. She was convicted last year along with two other band members of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred for an anti-President Vladimir Putin stunt in Russia's main cathedral.

BEREZNIKI, Russia  — A Russian court has turned down the attempt by an imprisoned member of the Pussy Riot feminist punk band to defer serving her sentence until her preschool son becomes a teenager.
Maria Alekhina on Wednesday asked the court to let her serve the rest of her two-year sentence after her 5-year-old son turns 14, arguing that separation from her child now will do irreparable psychological damage.
She was convicted last year along with two other band members of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred for an anti-President Vladimir Putin stunt in Russia's main cathedral. One of the women had her sentence suspended on appeal.
Judge Galina Yefremova rejected the petition, saying the court that sentenced Alekhina had already taken the child's existence into account.