Two members of the Russian punk performance-art group Pussy Riot have lost their appeal to stay in a Moscow pretrial detention center.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Maria Alyokhina, 24, are now set to be transferred to a penal colony outside the capital, where conditions are much tougher.
The nearest penal colony is located about 100 kilometers from Moscow.
Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina wanted to complete their two-year sentence at the detention center where they are currently being held.
Both have small children and their lawyers argue that a transfer to a penal colony outside Moscow will complicate their contacts with their families.
The two women were convicted of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" in August after staging a performance critical of President Vladimir Putin in Moscow's largest Orthodox cathedral.
A third defendant, Yekaterina Samutsevich, was released on probation last week.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Maria Alyokhina, 24, are now set to be transferred to a penal colony outside the capital, where conditions are much tougher.
The nearest penal colony is located about 100 kilometers from Moscow.
Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina wanted to complete their two-year sentence at the detention center where they are currently being held.
Both have small children and their lawyers argue that a transfer to a penal colony outside Moscow will complicate their contacts with their families.
The two women were convicted of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" in August after staging a performance critical of President Vladimir Putin in Moscow's largest Orthodox cathedral.
A third defendant, Yekaterina Samutsevich, was released on probation last week.
