Pussy Riot's Nadezhda Tolokonnikova denied parole Published duration 26 July 2013

image caption The jailing of Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and her fellow group members caused outrage worldwide

A second member of the Russian punk protest group Pussy Riot has had her application for parole refused.

A court in Saransk ruled that Nadezhda Tolokonnikova had not repented for her crime of hooliganism after singing a protest song against President Vladimir Putin in Moscow's main cathedral.

A similar ruling was delivered against Maria Alyokhina on Wednesday.

Both women are due to be released from their penal colonies next year; both are eligible for parole already.

They were turned down earlier this year, and immediately appealed.

The jailing of the two women and of Yekaterina Samutsevich - who had her sentence suspended and was freed in October - caused outrage worldwide.

Critics accused the Russian authorities of punishing the women for their boisterous protests against the policies of Mr Putin, in the run-up to his re-election as president.