A lawyer of convicted Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina has denied a report that her client was beaten by prison guards.
The lawyer, Oksana Darova, said that during a meeting with her client Thursday, prison guards informed Alyokhina that she needed to go pack because she was scheduled to be moved from the Solikamsk facility to a prison in the city of Perm.
Darova asked the guards to show court documentation asking for Alyokhina's relocation, but instead the guards showed an order for the prisoner to appear in a video conference. Alyokhina and her lawyer then refused relocation to the new prison.
"In response they replied that if Alyokhina refuses, physical force will be used," Darova told Interfax, adding that the guards then took her client away — but without force.
Peter Verzilov, husband of imprisoned Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, earlier said that Alyokhina was beaten by the guards when she refused relocation.
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