[{"body":"Mikhail Mikelov, senior investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee for the Stavropol Territory, refuses to initiate a criminal case against Sergey Pokrovskiy, deputy head of penal colony No. 7, who created torturous conditions for Anna Safronova because of her refusal to wear the Saint George's ribbon.\nThere are incompatible testimonies in the investigator's decision. According to the day guard and another prisoner, no one isolated Safronova, and Pokrovskiy was not even present at the morning checks. However, Pokrovskiy himself claims that he personally decided to isolate her and escorted her to the punishment cell \"to comply with procedure.\"\nAnna believes that the actions of Pokrovskiy and his subordinates — \"illegal detention in the observation room... in inhumane conditions\" — caused her physical and emotional harm.\nDuring those events, an ambulance was called for Anna. According to the lawyer, the team examined the victim, \"gave pills to lower blood pressure and reduce tachycardia... recorded severe swelling of the legs in the ankle area... burst capillaries.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Safronova in Astrakhan","date":"2025-08-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/astrakhan2/index.html#20250815","regions":["astrakhan"],"tags":["life-in-prison","torture-conditions","health-risk","medical-rights"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"In Zelenokumsk, the temperature exceeds 30 degrees making conditions in the penal colony, where Anna is located, especially difficult. The scorching sun heats the barracks to such an extent that it becomes hotter inside than outside. Prisoners periodically lose consciousness from heat exhaustion. Moreover, they were given summer uniforms only at the end of July.\nDifficulties do not deprive Anna of her joy: she draws friendly caricatures, makes crosswords, and every day answers letters that come regularly and in large numbers (although there are problems with receiving registered items). Food in the penal colony is scarce, but friends take care of Anna, passing on everything she needs, which she really appreciates.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Safronova in Astrakhan","date":"2025-07-31T14:18:24+03:00","permalink":"/en/cases/astrakhan2/index.html#20250731","regions":["astrakhan"],"tags":["life-in-prison","torture-conditions"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Anna Safronova, 59, one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, convicted for her faith, is subjected to inhumane treatment in penal colony No. 7 in Zelenokumsk (Stavropol Territory), and she also does not receive proper medical care. The reason she was treated this way was her refusing to wear the Saint George's ribbon (a patriotic symbol in Russia) because of her religious beliefs.\nSafronova has been in the colony for 2 years and 9 months. During 2024, her blood pressure began to rise noticeably; one day she lost consciousness during the lineup. She also has severely swollen and painful legs.\nParticular pressure on the believer began after she refused to wear the Saint George's ribbon at the request of the penal colony staff. After that, Safronova was placed in a punishment cell on a fabricated violation — food was planted in her personal belongings.\n\u0026quot;Anna tried to explain to the administration staff that she is one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witness and remains politically neutral,\u0026quot; Safronova\u0026#39;s lawyer said. Yaroslav Sivulsky, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, explained: \u0026quot;Believers respect the state. They do not encroach on the right of other people to have political convictions, to honor state, patriotic or any other symbols as they see fit. At the same time, the Witnesses are convinced that Jehovah God is the supreme ruler, and his laws are superior to those of the secular authorities. They adhere to this Christian position regardless of the country of residence and the current political system. That is why they do not riot, do not participate in wars and patriotic ceremonies. Ignorance or misunderstanding of this historically proven truth leads to unmotivated cruelty, which is what happens to Anna Safronova.\u0026quot;\nFrom April 29 to May 14, 2024, Anna was kept in a punishment cell, where she was placed with a severe cough. Safronova was not given medication — this triggered a more severe bronchitis. Soon she was again sent to the punishment cell for refusing to wear the Saint George's ribbon. According to the lawyer, in December 2024, Anna was forbidden to occupy the available lower bunk: \u0026quot;Anna was forced to climb onto the upper bunk through pain every time.\u0026quot;\nOn March 22, 2025, after the morning lineup, Anna was taken to a stuffy, windowless room and forced to stand continuously for 10 hours. \u0026quot;Before that, all the furniture was taken out of the room so that Anna could not sit down. And it is forbidden to sit on the floor by the internal regulations, for violation of which a penalty is imposed. After receiving a penalty, the prisoner loses the right to early release, and the conditions of detention are also toughened for him,\u0026quot; the lawyer said. By evening, the believer\u0026#39;s legs were very swollen and severely bruised. The next day, Anna was again taken indoors, and this time she stood for 13 hours without being able to sit down. During all this time, she was allowed to go to the toilet only once. As a result of such treatment, she became ill, but she was not allowed to see a doctor. Now it is difficult for her to walk. \u0026quot;When she asked why she was being tortured like this, she was told: \u0026#39;You haven\u0026#39;t been tortured yet,\u0026#39;\u0026quot; Anna\u0026#39;s lawyer quoted her words. The next day, the lawyer had to call an ambulance for her, which turned out to be the only way to \u0026quot;rescue Anna from the premises with such unbearable conditions.\u0026quot;\nOn March 26, 2025, the defender sent a complaint to the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Sovetsky City District of Zelenokumsk with a request to appoint a forensic medical examination, initiate a criminal case and bring officials to justice. But on March 27, Anna was again sent to the punishment cell on trumped-up charges — for 20 days.\nAnna Safronova became the first female, Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witness, in Russia to be sentenced to a record long prison term of 6 years in prison for her faith in God. Supposedly, she should leave the penal colony in August 2027.\nThe situation with Anna Safronova is not the first case of cruel treatment of Russian Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in prison. On March 20, 2025, 67-year-old Valeriy Baylo died in pretrial detention center No. 3 in Novorossiysk — his requests for medical care and hospitalization went unanswered.\n","category":"crime","date":"2025-04-01T10:33:49+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2025/03/271520/image_hu_c9828ea66229be93.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2025/03/271520/image_hu_d3df32e3408e3b47.jpg","webp":"/news/2025/03/271520/image_hu_18518b931a32c37c.webp","webp2x":"/news/2025/03/271520/image_hu_132542f70b80aacc.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2025/03/271520.html","regions":["astrakhan","stavropol"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["torture-conditions","health-risk"],"title":"Cruel Treatment of Anna Safronova in Penal Colony","type":"news"},{"body":"Courts continue to send Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses to prison, and the sentence of three of them has set a new record for severity. There have been cases of violence and torture, the proportion of the elderly among the \u0026quot;prisoners of conscience\u0026quot; has increased, there are people with severe disabilities, one of whom died shortly after the verdict; the trend of prosecuting entire families continues. Read about these and other findings for 2024 in this article.\nYear in numbers Judges announce the decision in the case of five believers in Moscow As of December 16, 2024, since the beginning of the year, Russian security forces have conducted at least 96 searches in the homes of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses — 17 in Crimea being the highest number. The total number of raids since the ban reached 2157.\nDuring 2024, 41 persons were made defendants in new criminal cases, of which 19 went through various types of detention, 15 of them are still behind bars. Last year, criminal cases were initiated against 100 believers.\nSentences were handed down to 116 believers. 43 of them (37%) were sentenced to imprisonment (It is noteworthy that this year nine people were sent to forced labor as a punishment). Terms of more than five years were given to 24 people (or almost 56% of those sentenced to imprisonment).\nSince 2017, 842 people have already been prosecuted; 450 of them have spent at least 1 day in custody. Currently, 147 prisoners of conscience are behind bars, either already convicted or awaiting sentencing. Of the 27 prisoners released from colonies, 8 were released this year. Although they have served their main sentence, most continue to experience numerous difficulties due to additional restrictions imposed by the court, which can last up to eight years or sometimes even more. \u0026quot;The cumulative numbers and severity of custodial sentences are increasing. To put it simply, during this year they imprisoned less, but more severely,\u0026quot; Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, commented on the statistics.\nIn 2024, the court handed down record-breaking sentences against three Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. Khabarovsk residents Nikolay Polevodov, Vitaliy Zhuk and Stanislav Kim received eight years and six months, eight years and four months, eight years and two months in a penal colony, respectively. After about three months the court of appeal changed the punishment from imprisonment to a suspended sentence for shorter terms. Therefore, the longest term in 2024 was given to Alexander Chagan from Tolyatti — eight years in a penal colony. All in all, six believers have received such a harsh sentence since 2017.\nThe administration of the pretrial detention center forwarded 93 letters to Nikolay Polevodov, which arrived after his release from detention Over the seven years of mass persecution of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, the number of people sentenced has reached 543, and 186 believers have been imprisoned. Almost 61% of them (113 people) received terms of more than five years.\nIn 13 regions of Russia, the average term of imprisonment is 6 years or more. This is especially true with the southern territories — the Astrakhan, Rostov, Volgograd Regions, Crimea, and Sevastopol. For comparison: according to the official statistics of the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court of Russia for 2023, of the 1297 people convicted for intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm, only 0.85% (11 people) were sentenced to terms of five to eight years. Most were sentenced to terms of two to three years. It seems that from the point of view of the Russian judicial system, Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses are more dangerous than those who beat people to the point of disability. At the same time, hundreds of trials against Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses accused of extremism have not confirmed a single fact of extremist activity on the part of the believers.\nHunting the Elderly Of the new defendants who appeared in 2024, eight are over 60 years old, the oldest is 74 (Nina Smirnova). In total, among those charged with extremism, 235 people (156 men and 79 women) belong to this age category — this is almost 28% of all those prosecuted. \u0026quot;Up until last December, this share was 26%, and it increased by 2% in 2024. It may not seem much, but there are real people behind the numbers, whose freedom, health and even life are under threat,\u0026quot; said Yaroslav Sivulskiy. \u0026quot;Unfortunately, during criminal proceedings, 9 elderly men and women have already died. One of them — Aleksandr Lubin who was seriously ill. He died a month after his verdict was announced.\u0026quot;\nDuring the court hearings, Lubin had to lie down on a bench to recover his breath \u0026quot;He was very anxious on the days of the court hearings. Afterwards he and his wife needed a couple of days to recover, he had to lie down almost all the time on these days,\u0026quot; Lubin\u0026#39;s lawyer said. \u0026quot;Over the course of the year, his illness progressed and in December he was hospitalized, where he stayed longer than usual. After discharge, his condition remained serious.\u0026quot;\nShortly before his death, Lubin said in court: \u0026quot;It was very painful for me to see how elderly witnesses were interrogated during court hearings in my case. The investigation seemed to deliberately select those who were over 80. They no longer see and hear well; they do not understand many words. Therefore, it gave the impression that the investigators drew up the interrogation protocols at their own discretion.\u0026quot;\nSince the beginning of the persecution, 13 believers have already died: 3 women and 10 men. As of the end of 2024, 27 believers over the age of 60 are being held in colonies, pretrial detention centers, and special detention centers for persons sentenced to forced labor. For example, Boris Andreyev, 73, who was sentenced to six years in a penal colony (he is suspected of having cancer), and Anatoliy Marunov, 71, who received six and a half years in a penal colony, remain behind bars. \u0026quot;The oldest of all the convicted Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses is Yuriy Yuskov. When the suspended sentence imposed on him ends, he will be 90 years old. The oldest defendant is Elena Zayshchuk, 90\u0026quot; said Yaroslav Sivulskiy.\nOne of the examples when the courts did not even try to create the appearance of legality of the process is the case of Tatyana Piskareva. She is 68 years old, and for the past few months she has been held in the correctional center at colony-settlement No 3 for the Oryol Region. In the spring of 2024, the court sentenced her to two and a half years of forced labor, a type of punishment that, as expressly stated in Article 53.1 of the Criminal Code, is not imposed on old-age pensioners. Tatyana mentioned this in her appeal. However, as said in the decision of the appeal court, \u0026quot;the requirements of Article 53.1 of the Criminal Code of Russian Federation were observed by the court.\u0026quot;\nAndrey Vlasov participates in the court hearing via video conferencing from the penal colony Andrey Vlasov, 56, who has a severe disability, has already been in prison for more than two and a half years. He was sentenced to seven years in a penal colony, and the courts deny him early release, despite his rapidly deteriorating health. He is practically unable to move his joints. He experiences constant pain, which is why even everyday tasks — for example, putting on underwear — are very difficult. Some tasks that are simple for a healthy person are completely beyond Vlasov\u0026#39;s strength. He has already fallen several times and could not get up on his own. According to the surgeon, Andrey needs an operation. Failure to do so will lead to an ischemic stroke of the spinal cord and paralysis of the limbs.\nMoreover, the Russian law enforcement system is not lenient to those who are younger, but whose health also requires a special approach. Vladimir Fomin, 44, who is disabled, has been in a pretrial detention center since the end of March 2024. According to his lawyer, Fomin\u0026#39;s condition is getting worse — his chronic illnesses have been exacerbated, and there is no proper treatment. During one of the hearings, he lost consciousness, an ambulance had to be called.\nTorture and Violence In 2024, four cases of violence by law enforcement officers became known. Also, one case of torture in a place of detention was recorded against convicted Rinat Kiramov of Akhtubinsk. The prisoners demanded that Rinat give the names of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses living in Akhtubinsk.\nRinat Kiramov speaks in court Rinat\u0026rsquo;s wife Galina is waiting in the corridor for the decision of the court of cassation Did the pressure achieve its goal? \u0026quot;After beatings and torture, Rinat does not feel that he is a victim. On the contrary, he feels great joy, because he endured everything with dignity, \u0026quot;said Kiramov\u0026#39;s wife Galina shortly after the events described.\nDuring raids in Omsk in March 2024, security forces beat Sergey Rygaev and Leonid Pyzhov.\nIn the same month, during a search in Tolyatti, Sergey Fedorov was beaten and detained. He is still behind bars.\nOn September 16, during raids in Samara, law enforcement officers had been using force against one of the believers for several hours. At some point, the man lost consciousness.\nOn December 5, during searches in Moscow, the security forces hit one believer on the head and abdomen, and broke his nose.\nProsecution of Families Vladimir and Anastasiya Anufriyev, as well as two other families involved in the case, can now only see each other during trials, in a special box for defendants The number of families where more than one person was prosecuted for their faith has exceeded 80. At least nine of them were added in 2024. In one of the cases, three married couples were made defendants at once — Vladimir and Anastasiya Anufriyev, Viktor and Alena Chernobaev, as well as Andrey Mikholap and his wife Oksana. All of them are in pretrial detention at the time of writing.\nIn December 2024 , Kristina Golik, Valentina Yermilova and Yekaterina Olshevskaya were sentenced to forced labor. Earlier, their husbands received long prison terms and are serving their sentences in a penal colony. Before the verdict was announced Yekaterina stated in court: \u0026quot;My husband and my father are imprisoned under the same article. I can see my husband only a few times a year. My son, who is four years old, misses his dad very much and is constantly worried that I will also be sent to prison. Every time he accompanies me to court, my young son asks: \u0026#39;Mom, will you return home today?\u0026#39;\u0026quot;\nIn January 2024, the court separated Aram Danielyan from his wife and young son. The believer was sentenced to 7 years in a penal colony Similar concerns were expressed by Kristina Golik: \u0026quot;My husband will be released in 2027, after which his freedom will be restricted for another year, and he will have a further eight years of administrative supervision. If I am given a prison sentence, then I will have to serve it... The question is: after how many years will we be reunited? I\u0026#39;m scared to even think about it.\u0026quot;\nHowever, the issue of destroying the families of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses turned out to be insignificant for the court — if the sentence enters into force, the believers will have to serve their sentences in a special institution for carrying out forced labor.\nRepressions Against Convicted Persons With the passage of time, law enforcement officers find new ways to put pressure on those who are imprisoned for their faith. For the first time since 2017, one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses Viktor Stashevsky ended up in regular prison (not to confuse with a penal colony). Prior to that, he was held under strict detention conditions on the basis of penalties, most of which he was unaware of.\nDetention in strict conditions of imprisonment — placement in a punishment cell, CTF and SCTF — is a frequent practice in the cases of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. According to the rules, a prisoner should not be kept in such a room for more than 15 days, but in practice the punishment is extended, so that believers are kept in strict conditions for months. For example, Alam Aliyev, sentenced to six and a half years in a penal colony, has already been held for almost six months under strict detention conditions in IK-8 for the Amur Region. This is not compatible with the state of his health — he has diabetes mellitus, kidney disease, cardiac and neurological disorders.\nOften, the conditions for imprisoned Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses are hardened on the basis of fabricated or far-fetched violations. The reason may be an unfastened button or the absence of a tag with the prisoner\u0026#39;s name on the cabinet. Sometimes the prisoner does not even know what violations he is charged with. Such penalties are used as grounds for denying believers visits from relatives and make it almost impossible for them to be released on parole. It happens that in a particular colony there is no room corresponding to the punishment. In this case, prisoners are transported to another (sometimes remote) region, to a colony where such a room exists. This limits the possibility to see relatives and receive parcels.\nConcerned people support those who are unjustly convicted with letters. However, censorship does not allow everything to pass through, cutting out or crossing out part of the text There are also specific methods of pressure — when believers are deprived of the opportunity to read the Bible. Often this is done under the pretext that the book does not have a stamp of approval from the Russian Orthodox Church. In the case of Andrey Danielyan and the abovementioned Rinat Kiramov, the FSIN officers went even further — personal copies of the Bible were seized not only from them, but also from all other prisoners. Kiramov\u0026#39;s relatives said that before that, other convicts lent Rinat their copies, but the colony staff forbade them to do so. Not only the Bible was confiscated from Danielyan, but also a personal notebook with quotes from this book.\nPracticing their religion can even result in a new term for a prisoner, as in the case of Dmitriy Terebilov from Kostroma. He became acquainted with the Bible many years ago in the penal colony. Thanks to his new knowledge, Dmitriy changed so much that the administration of the institution itself petitioned for his early release. After his release he became one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. Later, Dmitriy was convicted again, this time for his faith. On September 5, his term of imprisonment expired but he was not freed. A new criminal case was initiated against him for answering questions from a cellmate about the beliefs of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. Now Dmitry is in a pretrial detention center and awaiting another trial. He faces an extension of his term from three to 10 years.\nNew Acquittal In 2024, Ruslan Atakuyev, judge of the Mayskiy District Court of Kabardino-Balkaria, found Kirill Gushchin not guilty of extremism. This decision withstood the courts of appeal and cassation, and the prosecutor\u0026#39;s office made an official apology. Since 2017, various courts have issued a total of 10 acquittals, but until that moment, only two of them were not overturned. In May 2021, the same Mayskiy District Court acquitted Yuriy Zalipayev.\nKabardino-Balkaria is the only region in Russia where Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have effectively been acquitted.\nKirill Gushchin leaves the courthouse after the announcement of his acquittal, he was greeted by a large support group International Support In the summer 2024, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favor of 16 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses who were subjected to illegal searches, arrests, and convictions for their religion in Russia. Although Russia withdrew from the European Convention on Human Rights back in 2022, the Russian Federation is still obliged to pay compensation assigned to believers.\nOn October 24, 2023, the UN Human Rights Committee issued two opinions in favor of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses regarding the rulings to liquidate the local religious organizations (LROs) in Abinsk and Elista. In Russia, these rulings became precedent for the beginning of religious persecution, and a former member of the Abinsk LRO, the elderly Aleksandr Ivshin, is serving time for his faith in a penal colony.\nThe UN Human Rights Committee emphasizes that there are no calls for violence or other information inciting hatred in the literature of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. In both cases, Russia violated the right of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses to \u0026quot;freedom of thought, conscience and religion\u0026quot; and \u0026quot;the right to freedom of assembly\u0026quot; (Articles 18.1 and 22.1 of the European Convention on Human Rights).\nThe Committee ordered Russia to reconsider the decisions on the ban and ordered it to \u0026quot;take all necessary steps to avoid similar violations in the future.\u0026quot; During 2024, hearings were held in Russia on this issue, but the Committee\u0026#39;s orders were never carried out. Moreover, after the publication of the Opinion of the Human Rights Committee on the liquidation of a religious organization in Abinsk, local security forces initiated a criminal case against Valeriy Baylo, 66 at that time, — for participating in the activity of the Abinsk LRO. The court sentenced the believer to two and a half years in a penal colony. Now he is in custody and is awaiting the decision of the court of appeal.\nAnd in June 2024, the Elista City Court found three women guilty of participating in the activity of the Elista LRO and gave Kishta Tutinova a three-year suspended sentence, and Yekaterina Menkova and Tsagan Khalgaeva two years suspended. The court of appeal toughened the sentence.\nNadezhda Korobochko Back in 2019, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called on the Russian authorities to \u0026quot;drop the charges and release all those detained for exercising their rights to freedom of religion or belief, freedom of expression, as well as the right to peaceful assembly and association.\u0026quot; It is obvious that the demands of the international community have not been met. However, this pressure — imprisonment, risk to health and sometimes even life — does not deprive Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses of their courage. Nadezhda Korobochko, 80, speaking in court before the verdict was announced, expressed the attitude of the majority of those prosecuted for their faith: \u0026quot;As long as I am alive, I will study the Bible. As long as I am alive, I will share the knowledge of God with other people, and nothing can make me give up my faith in God.\u0026quot;\n","category":"analytics","date":"2024-12-23T08:27:03+02:00","duration":"2:13","image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/12/230900/cover_hu_f03b9c8adeb026a6.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/12/230900/cover_hu_990bd52f1e0b72a9.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/12/230900/cover_hu_2b62cd40b10aba1b.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/12/230900/cover_hu_588887d1ec686d5c.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/12/230900.html","regions":[],"subtitle":null,"tags":["review","statistics","torture","search","siloviks-violence","torture-conditions","families","prison-treatment","shizo","strict-conditions","letters","acquittal","international","unhrc","echr","died","elderly","disability"],"title":"\"They imprison less, but more severely.\" Repressions against Jehovah's Witnesses: 2024 Overview","type":"video"},{"body":"On October 7, 2024, Natalya Korotneva, judge of the Shadrinskiy District Court of the Kurgan Region, sentenced 68-year-old Aleksandr Lubin, a disabled person, to a fine of 500,000 rubles. The criminal trial in this case took three years.\nThe prosecutor requested a suspended sentence of 7 years for the believer with a 4-year probation period. Aleksandr does not admit guilt – in his opinion, the investigation wrongfully deemed jointly worshipping God to be continuing the activity of a banned legal entity. The believer may appeal the verdict in the higher courts.\nIn July 2021, Nikolay Astapov, an investigator for especially important cases of the First Department of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kurgan Region, initiated a criminal case against Aleksandr Lubin. Then, armed law enforcement officers broke into the home of the elderly disabled couple. Distressed by the search, Tatyana, Aleksandr\u0026#39;s wife, suffered a fourth stroke — she lost the use of her legs and ability to speak. The believer was charged with organizing extremist activity and taken for interrogation to the investigative committee, and then placed in a pretrial detention center for 2 months.\nWhen deciding to detain the believer, Yevgeniy Kolesov, judge of the Kurgan City Court, did not take into account his disability and the danger to his health and life presented by the detention conditions, although the defense had provided all the necessary medical documents. Aleksandr Lubin has a serious vascular disease, hypertension, as well as polyarthritis – a severe autoimmune disease. Due to constant pain in the hip joints, he can hardly move; as prescribed by his doctors, he must use an oxygen cylinder for 16 hours a day, which is not possible in custody.\nThe defense filed a complaint with the ECHR about the detention of the believer. The European Court sent an inquiry to the RF Prosecutor General\u0026#39;s Office. The lawyers also appealed to the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Kurgan Region, Boris Shalyutin, and he initiated an urgent inspection. After that, Aleksandr Lubin was sent to the hospital for a medical examination, which established that his state of health did not allow him to be kept in custody. Eventually, after 1.5 months of detention, the court decided to release the elderly believer from the pretrial detention center under a ban on certain actions.\nAddressing the court, Aleksandr expressed his view of the case as follows: \u0026quot;The charges brought against me are purely based on a preconceived idea about Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. This approach toward my fellow believers was also prevalent during Nazi Germany, when thousands of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses were thrown into prisons and concentration camps, hundreds were executed, and thousands died from inhumane treatment. Anyone who was identified as one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, regardless of age, was immediately taken into custody. I do not want Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses to be treated with the same prejudice in the Kurgan Region.\u0026quot;\nAlmost all Russian law enforcement agencies are engaged in the persecution of elderly believers: the FSB, the Prosecutor\u0026#39;s Office, the Investigative Committee, the National Guard, the Federal Penitentiary Service, the OMON and the SOBR.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-10-07T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/10/080902/image_hu_a12cdf840d37356a.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/10/080902/image_hu_fb63f92bb7fa33be.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/10/080902/image_hu_68b8afe929695fab.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/10/080902/image_hu_73a702ff7c884912.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/10/080902.html","regions":["kurgan"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-1","disability","elderly","medical-rights","health-risk","torture-conditions","echr"],"title":"Another Victim of Persecution of Disabled Believers: Court Declared Seriously Ill Pensioner Aleksandr Lubin as Extremist","type":"news"},{"body":"Valeriy Bailo, 66, still complains of toothache and stomach pain. After repeated statements, he managed to get an appointment with a dentist, who, after examination, concluded that the man needed dental treatment and prosthetics. Since there were no materials for this in the pre-trial detention center, the dentist recommended that the prisoner be released from custody and undergo treatment at large. Due to an acute toothache, Valeriy eats only liquid food in the pre-trial detention center. He continues to regularly appeal to the administration of the pre-trial detention facility with requests for medical assistance, but his statements remain unanswered.\nThe lawyer believes that such an attitude towards Valery Bailo on the part of the administration of the pre-trial detention center endangers his life and health. He filed complaints with the Public Monitoring Commission, the Prosecutor's Office for Supervision of the Federal Penitentiary Service and the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Krasnodar Territory, S. V. Myshak. Two of these complaints are forwarded to the Federal Penitentiary Service for consideration.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Baylo in Kholmskaya","date":"2024-07-23T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kholmskaya7/index.html#20240723","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["sizo","elderly","medical-rights","health-risk","torture-conditions","prison-treatment","complaints"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A resident of the Astrakhan Region, Rinat Kiramov, sentenced to 7 years in a penal colony for his beliefs, was tortured in correctional medical facility No. 3 of the Tula Region, to force him to incriminate his fellow believers. Kiramov\u0026#39;s lawyer mentions this in his complaint to the prosecutor\u0026#39;s office. An inspection documented injuries on the body of the believer.\nIn April last year, Rinat Kiramov and two other believers were convicted because they discussed Bible topics with friends. Rinat Kiramov was sent to penal colony No. 6 of the Tula Region to serve his sentence. However, on April 18, 2024, Kiramov was transferred to correctional medical facility No. 3 of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the Tula Region on suspicion of tuberculosis.\nA few days later during a brief visit, Rinat\u0026#39;s wife, Galina Kiramova, immediately noticed bruises on her husband\u0026#39;s face. Eventually, the lawyer Denis Zubanov found out, that on April 20, several prisoners insisted that Rinat disclose the names of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses living in Akhtubinsk. After refusing to do so, the believer was beaten for several days, as well as tortured with waterboarding and with a stun gun. From April 20 to April 24, he was deprived of sleep, and was only allowed to eat once a day. The protocol of Kiramov\u0026#39;s interview states: \u0026quot;During the entire time spent in the medical correctional institution... he was not allowed to brush his teeth, shave, wash or even sit down.\u0026quot;\nThe lawyer appealed to the Tula Prosecutor for Supervision of Compliance with Laws in Correctional Institutions with a request for an urgent medical examination of Kiramov and verification of the legality of his transfer to the correctional medical facility.\nThe internal service of the correctional medical facility carried out an investigation into the reported torture. As a result, as stated in the relevant document, injuries were found on the body of Kiramov, which is \u0026quot;a sign of corpus delicti.\u0026quot;\nAccording to the response of the Prosecutor\u0026#39;s Office of the Tula Region, on May 3, 2024, the materials were transferred for further investigation to the Skuratovskiy police department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the city of Tula.\nThe believer was found not to have tuberculosis, so on May 17 he was sent from the correctional medical facility back to the Tula penal colony.\n","category":"crime","date":"2024-06-04T10:43:44+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/06/041043/image_hu_dc025094412d724a.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/06/041043/image_hu_5e91f49c8a67abad.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/06/041043/image_hu_f168672662bc362f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/06/041043/image_hu_9be2091692b0369b.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/06/041043.html","regions":["tula","astrakhan"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["health-risk","torture","torture-conditions","forced-hospitalization","complaints","siloviks-violence"],"title":"A Convicted Jehovah's Witnesses from Akhtubinsk Was Tortured","type":"news"},{"body":"On September 15, 2023, the Kovrov City Court sentenced local resident Aleksey Kupriyanov to 1 imprisonment and 6 months restriction of freedom. Judge Vyacheslav Kuznetsov considered quoting from the Bible as proof of the believer's guilt of extremism. The term was served during the investigation. Kupriyanov maintains his innocence.\nBack in February 2021, during mass searches and interrogations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Kovrov, Aleksey came across prosecution on religious grounds. A criminal case against him was initiated in June 2021. D. A. Tyumenev, investigator of the FSB Directorate for the Vladimir Region, deemed that Kupriyanov was continuing the activity of the liquidated legal entity (Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC) as he \"took part in religious meetings... actively participated in collecting information on the amount of work done... on introducing... the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses... to the masses.\" Shortly after, Kupriyanov's home was searched again, then the believer was detained and later placed in a pretrial detention center.\nHis detention lasted about 4.5 months. During this time, the believer was prohibited from reading the Bible and pronouncing the name of God Jehovah; for a time his letters were withheld and he was threatened with his wife and son being prosecuted. From 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. he was forced to sit on the cold floor. Also, Kupriyanov's cellmate, a former officer, convicted for organizing torture, was instructed by the detention center officers to put pressure on the believer to make him incriminate himself. Aleksey began to have health problems because of this, but despite a high fever, he was not transferred to the medical unit. Consequently, Kupriyanov had to undergo surgery.\nLater, the believer was transferred to house arrest for 7 months and was allowed walks for 2 hours a day. In September 2022, Kupriyanov's case went to court. At the court hearings, witnesses for the prosecution stated that they had not heard calls for extremism from the defendant. FSB officer Bordunov, who conducted operational-investigative measures, said that Kupriyanov participated in the activity of the liquidated legal entity, but did not provide evidence of this and avoided answering most of the questions from the defense.\nAccording to Kupriyanov, he was greatly encouraged by the care of his wife care and fellow believers, who sent him encouraging thoughts in their letters. Aleksey recalls: \"The letters and the Bible, as well as supplicating in prayer day and night helped me to fight the feeling of worthlessness that they tried to instill in me. That's how it was for a few months.\" According to Aleksey, he was strengthened by the opportunity to \"comfort other brothers and sisters\" with poems that he composed in response to their letters.\nIn his final statement, Aleksey Kupriyanov said: \"The charge is based only on the fact that I am a believer and that I believe in Jehovah. Your Honor, faith is on trial here!\" Although there is not a single victim in the case, the prosecutor requested the court sentence the believer to 4 years in a penal colony. Considering the clarifications of the Plenum of the RF Supreme Court of October 28, 2021, Kupriyanov can appeal the verdict to a higher court.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-09-15T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/09/201444/image_hu_89bbe0bafa5ab688.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/09/201444/image_hu_2305060233336f40.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/09/201444/image_hu_1009345cdcc772cd.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/09/201444/image_hu_3daf2874afb7ea6f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/09/201444.html","regions":["vladimir"],"subtitle":"He Was Sentenced to a Penal Colony, But the Term Is Considered as Having Been Served","tags":["first-instance","liberty-deprivation","torture-conditions","letters","282.2-2"],"title":"In Kovrov, A Court Found Aleksey Kupriyanov Guilty of Extremism for His Faith in God.","type":"news"},{"body":"Lyudmila Shchekoldina is taken to the hospital for surgery on internal organs. Although permission for this was given back in February 2023, the administration of the colony was in no hurry to send the believer for treatment. All this time, the woman was in severe pain.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Shchekoldina in Pavlovskaya","date":"2023-08-07T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/pavlovskaya/index.html#20230807","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["life-in-prison","prison-treatment","torture-conditions","health-risk"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"It becomes known that Oleg Danilov was placed in stricter conditions of detention for three months - a cell-type room (PKT).\nPKT is a special lockable room on the territory of the colony, where convicts live for the entire period for which a penalty is imposed (up to six months). Such premises, as a rule, have more difficult conditions of detention. Previously, the PKT was called BUR, which stood for \"high-security barracks\".\nThe administration has already placed Oleg Danilov in a punishment cell (punishment cell) and a punishment cell (strict conditions of detention).\n","caseTitle":"Case of Danilov in Kholmskaya","date":"2023-08-04T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kholmskaya2/index.html#20230804","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["life-in-prison","torture-conditions","strict-conditions"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"It becomes known that Vasily Meleshko was placed in a punishment cell for 15 days. SHIZO is a punishment cell on the territory of the colony, where the strictest conditions of detention are established. The existence of such penalties may prevent a prisoner from being released on parole or having his sentence commuted.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Meleshko in Kholmskaya","date":"2023-08-04T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kholmskaya6/index.html#20230804","regions":["krasnodar"],"tags":["life-in-prison","torture-conditions","strict-conditions"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The court rejects all the motions filed at the previous hearing.\nThe issue of extending the measure of restraint for the defendants is being considered. The defense provides positive characteristics of the defendants, as well as a number of significant arguments, including the text of the speech of the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Lebedev (in which he called on judges to use preventive measures alternative to detention more often). Despite this, Judge Natalia Batura once again extends the measure of restraint for three months, until 01.11.2022.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Moiseyev and Others in Gukovo","date":"2022-07-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/gukovo/index.html#20220701","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["first-instance","sizo","torture-conditions"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A lawyer visits believers in a pre-trial detention center on Maxim Gorky Street in Rostov-on-Don. In some chambers it is stuffy, the temperature sometimes reaches +40 ° C, there is a fungus on the walls. Among the inmates there are patients with coronavirus.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Moiseyev and Others in Gukovo","date":"2021-06-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/gukovo/index.html#20210628","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["sizo","torture-conditions"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Saratov residents Roman Gridasov and Gennady German, sentenced to 2 years in prison for their faith, served half their sentence. In September, the defense requested their release in exchange for a fine. It is expected that the Central District Court of Orenburg will consider their application in November 2020.\nIn September 2019, 51-year-old painter Gennady German and 42-year-old finisher Roman Gridasov were convicted of reading the Holy Scripture, singing spiritual songs and praying to God Jehovah. Upon arrival at Colony 2 in Orenburg, they and three of their fellow believers were beaten up by guards. Feliks Makhammadiev was the most severely injured - he was hospitalized and operated on with broken ribs, kidney and lung injuries. Gridasov and Herman also suffered injuries then, but not related to health threats. After the incident, believers faced pressure - they were forced to refuse to testify about the beatings. On the first day of arrival at the colony, Gridasov and Herman were accused of allegedly smoking (Jehovah's Witnesses do not smoke on religious grounds) and punished accordingly.\nEight months have elapsed since then. Herman and Gridasov have already recovered from the incident and are working in the sewing industry. Roman also mastered the profession of a cook.\n\"Believers have to work from morning till evening. After a working day, they often only have time to wash and wash their clothes. The conditions in the colony are bad. Prisoners are given only a small nightstand to store things. Clothes are of poor quality. According to those who have been kept in the colony for a long time, in summer it is very difficult to get permission to take off the dense clothes, when because of the hot weather the body gets very hot and you have to work in the direct sense of your own sweat. Their health condition has deteriorated, they have lost weight and their chronic diseases have worsened,\" said the lawyer after his visit back in spring. Shortly after his departure, COVID-19 was quarantined in connection with the pandemic.\nBy September 2020, Roman Gridasov and Gennady Herman had already served more than half of their sentence and were eligible for release if the court allowed them to pay a fine in exchange for the unpaid part of the sentence. On September 21 the defense of Hermann and Gridasov filed a corresponding motion. A total of two de jure believers had already been imprisoned for 421 days (or 14 months out of the 24 appointed). Of these, 3 days in a temporary detention facility and another 93 days in a pretrial detention facility (which counts as 1 day for 1.5 days). Another 277 days the believers had left for the colony.\nAfter filing a petition, Gennady Herman was reprimanded for allegedly failing to say hello to the colony staff, which allowed the institution's administration to give a negative characterization to the court.\nIn the run-up to the trial, the believers maintained a positive attitude thanks to the support of Orenburg's close and sympathetic residents. Letters from dozens of different countries also keep believers from drowning in their spirits.\nThe arrest and mockery of the Saratov believers caused a sharp condemnation of the international community.\n","category":"prison","date":"2020-10-21T17:02:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/10/10/image_hu_cc0ae4edefb4c20b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/10/10/image_hu_8d8f0738596f2d30.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/10/10/image_hu_840a6898a84dcee.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/10/10/image_hu_80fcf3e10a40f9d7.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/10/10.html","regions":["saratov","orenburg"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["life-in-prison","penalty","siloviks-violence","torture-conditions"],"title":"Two believers, who experienced beatings in an Orenburg correctional facility, may be released early. A court decision is expected soon","type":"news"},{"body":"During the raid in Kerch on May 26, 2020, law enforcement officers kept the 29-year-old father of two young children, Artyom Shabliy, undressed for several hours in the cold, resulting in his illness. His 4-year-old son cut his legs on shatters from the windows broken by the law enforcers. In total 5 houses of believers were searched that day.\nOn May 26th, 2020 at 6 a.m. investigator for especially important cases V. Zarubin initiated a criminal case against Artem Shabliy under part 1.1. of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code. One hour later, a group of 10 armed men stormed his house, breaking a gate and window panes.\nThe believer was handcuffed and placed on a cold, damp floor, threatening to use a stun gun. Artyom was not allowed to stand up for a long time, although he did not resist. During the 3-hour search, the believer, wearing only underwear, stood facing the wall and was handcuffed. Because of the broken windows and open doors in the house, the believer fell ill - that morning the temperature outside ranged between 13 and 16 degrees Celsius.\nThe young children of Artyom suffered - the older 4-year-old son cut his legs on the glass, dotted the floor. The security forces confiscated a computer, phones, literature, documents, postcards mentioning the name of Jehovah God.\nA window broken by security forces in the house of Artem Shabliy during the assault. Kerch. May 26, 2020. After Artyom had been searched, he was taken to the Investigation Department. There, he stood in the corridor for two hours waiting for interrogation. Artyom's handcuffs were only taken off in the investigator's office. One of the law enforcers put pressure on him, saying: \"It’s Armageddon for you! I'll baptize you by eight years of imprisonment. You're going to plant trees in a joint and tailor my uniform.\"\nThe investigator, Major of Justice Valery Zarubin, processed the administrative detention for two days against Artyom and sent him to the detention center. The believer was locked in a cold, dirty room measuring 1 by 2 meters, with no furniture. Artyom had to stand again until two hours later he was given a mattress, a dirty pillow, a short sheet and a blanket.\nArtyom was not allowed to make a legal call to his family. All this time, no water or food was given to the believer. It was only at 18:00 that Artyom ate what his wife had brought him for the first time in a day. The isolation cell also had no technical water until 11:00 the next day until he was transferred to another room.\nThe next day, the investigation continued. Zarubin insisted that Artyom plead guilty. He refused Shabliy's requests to replace the investigator and the lawyer. From the detention center, where Artyom spent two days, he was released under an obligation to appear. At the exit from the detention center facility, the believer felt ill and had to call an ambulance. Without waiting for the doctors, his friends took Artyom to the hospital, where he was examined. The believer filed a complaint with the law enforcement agencies about the illegal actions of law enforcement officers.\nIt is noteworthy that the criminal prosecution of Artyom Shabliy started after a statement by an Igor Dukhanin. Earlier a man with the same name initiated conversations with Jehovah's Witnesses in Kerch, portraying his interest in the Bible. According to the Crimean Prosecutor's Office, in 2015 a local resident with such name and surname was sentenced to 2.5 years conditionally for extremist activities - distribution of leaflets inciting national hatred.\nLaw-enforcement agencies of Ukraine became interested in violation of the rights of believers in Kerch and a criminal case was initiated on the fact of illegal searches.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2020-06-10T17:20:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/invasion-surgut_hu_d47978800fa5e21b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/invasion-surgut.jpg","webp":"/news/common/invasion-surgut_hu_e7e36e7e158e908a.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/invasion-surgut_hu_28a0fe43c2e78d82.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/06/9.html","regions":["crimea"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","health-risk","torture","minors","siloviks-violence","new-case","282.2-1.1","interrogation","ivs","torture-conditions","summon"],"title":"\"It Is Armageddon For You!\" After a Provocateur's Denunciation, the Kerch Law Enforcers Kept a Believer Undressed for Three Hours in the Cold","type":"news"},{"body":"25 May 2020 marks exactly three years since the Danish citizen who lives in Oryol Dennis Christensen was taken into custody. Dennis' health has deteriorated during his imprisonment. Now the prison administration is not giving him any medication and is trying to prevent him from being released.\nDennis Christensen became the first Jehovah's Witness in modern Russia to be sentenced to real imprisonment for his faith. Immediately after his arrest, Christensen was imprisoned in the Oryol pre-trial detention center, where he was kept for about two years. In February 2019, the court sentenced Dennis to 6 years in prison. Three months later, the appellate court upheld this decision. After the verdict came into force, Dennis was transferred to colony No. 3 in the city of Lgov (Kursk region).\nDuring his imprisonment, Dennis began to have health problems. Already in prison, he suffered pneumonia, the effects of which he still feels. According to the lawyer, Christensen's medical record was recently \"lost\", and without it, Dennis is refused treatment. Due to the \"absence of superiors at the workplace,\" the believer is not given the medicines that his wife Irina sends him, although the dispensing of medicines is not in charge of the colony authorities, but of the hospital doctor.\n\"The medical documents \"disappeared\" after the defense petitioned for the recovery of medical records from the colony, which is suing the prosecutor for the fact that he declared the penalties imposed on Christensen illegal. We notified the prosecutor about this strange disappearance, \"explained one of Dennis Christensen's lawyers.\nIn the meantime, the administration of the colony puts pressure on the believer, it keeps a diary in which it writes down untrue conclusions about Christensen's personality and behavior. Although Dennis has never been convicted before and the current prison term was assigned to him not for specific crimes, but for his faith, his characterization states that he \"flaunts a criminal past\", plans to \"deal with\" representatives of the authorities, the court and \"accomplices\" after his release. Such fictions sound absurd to anyone who knows Christensen and Jehovah's Witnesses in general.\n\"Recently, the head of the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Kursk region, Vladimir Nazarov, came to the colony, Dennis complained to him, but he only supported the position of his subordinates,\" the lawyer said.\nIn June 2017, Dennis Christensen filed an appeal against his arrest with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Later, the Kingdom of Denmark entered the case of Christensen v. Russia as a 3rd person. It is known that the complaint has passed the communication stage. Representatives of the Danish Embassy in Moscow regularly visit Christensen in the colony, the previous such visit took place on March 11, 2020.\nDue to the coronavirus pandemic, Dennis' wife, Irina Christensen, cannot get to the colony to meet her husband. Nevertheless, they communicate regularly on the phone.\nAccording to Irina, during his imprisonment, Dennis had to adapt to different conditions, but now they are tolerable. \"There are mice, cockroaches, mosquitoes and many other insects in the colony. I send cockroach traps and adhesive fly tape to my husband in a package. And he is friends with mice, \"says Dennis's wife with a smile.\nPostcards that Dennis Christensen sent to his wife Irina from the colony According to Irina, Dennis writes a lot, sometimes he receives 100 letters a day. \"For the last month, he has not received letters in foreign languages, since there is no censor who knows foreign languages in the colony,\" she says.\nTo date, Christensen has served almost 4 years out of 6 appointed by the court - according to the Criminal Code, 1 day of detention in a pre-trial detention center is equal to 1.5 days in a colony. A year ago, he had the right to mitigation of punishment, petitioned for it, but the court rejected three petitions for bureaucratic reasons. While the believer is waiting for a decision on the fourth, the administration of the colony issues unjustified reprimands that are designed to prevent him from being released. It even went as far as tossing a knife. If the court does not commute Dennis Christensen's sentence, he will not be released until May 25, 2022.\n\"Russian Human Rights Defenders\" and the US Commission on International Religious Freedom recognized Dennis Christensen as a prisoner of conscience, and the European Union called on his release \"immediately and unconditionally.\" The same was demanded from the Russian authorities at the UN.\n","category":"prison","date":"2020-05-25T08:38:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/05/14/image_hu_7337e9cd5924cb39.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/05/14/image_hu_70d57728a284b994.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/05/14/image_hu_42286e6159953183.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/05/14/image_hu_cc5e94d2023bb016.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/05/14.html","regions":["oryol","kursk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["health-risk","life-in-prison","torture-conditions","medical-rights","complaints"],"title":"Mice, Pneumonia and Unreasonable Penalties: How Dennis Christensen, a Prisoner of Conscience, is Serving His Sentence Three Years After His Arrest","type":"news"},{"body":"Dennis Christensen, who is serving time for his faith in Lgov Penal Colony No. 3, has been battling pneumonia for the past month. He was in the hospital of the Correctional Colony No. 2, the conditions in which leave much to be desired. As of October 29, 2019, he is feeling better and has been placed in colony No. 3.\nChristensen's health problems began in June, when he sought medical help because of severe pain in his left shoulder. Dennis was not provided with timely assistance due to the fact that the surgeon and neurologist of the prison hospital were on vacation, and the attending physician refused him the opportunity to invite a doctor from a paid clinic.\nIn September, Dennis contracted pneumonia caused by regular prolonged hypothermia. By the time of the onset of night frosts, the prisoners of colony No. 3 were not given warm clothes, while Christensen, along with other convicts, was taken to the daily formation by 8 am in light uniforms and summer sandals. Such constructions lasted for an hour and a half twice a day.\nOn September 25, Dennis, with pneumonia, was transferred to colony No. 2, which has a hospital. There he was given more than 70 injections of antibiotics, as well as prescribed antibiotics in the form of tablets.\nOn October 17, Christensen reported that it was still cold in the hospital where he was staying and that he could use one thin blanket that he had to keep warm. There is no enhanced nutrition in the hospital, and it was difficult for Dennis, in his weakened state, to get to the dining room in a building without an elevator. He was forced to eat mainly what he bought at a local store. All this did not contribute to recovery.\nEarlier it was reported about unsanitary conditions in colony No. 3, as well as about the moral pressure that is exerted on Dennis Christensen. Nevertheless, he maintains a positive attitude that attracts the attention of those around him.\n","category":"prison","date":"2019-10-29T17:08:55+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/10/1305/kristensen699_0_hu_7f68aeab33e21e7f.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/10/1305/kristensen699_0_hu_a929ddef91709745.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/10/1305/kristensen699_0_hu_65e9eba01236fc8e.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/10/1305/kristensen699_0_hu_b0eb5a281cae42d3.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/10/1305.html","regions":["kursk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["prison-treatment","health-risk","medical-rights","torture-conditions","life-in-prison","transfer"],"title":"In the colony, Dennis Christensen suffered pneumonia. Recovery is slow due to poor living conditions","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 20, 2019, an application was filed with the Office of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug-Yugra to disqualify the investigation team due to sufficient grounds to believe that the head of the investigation department for the city of Surgut Ermolaev V.V., investigators Tkach S.V., Adiyatullin A.F., Gaisin S.S., Bogoderov S.A., Asmolov D.L. and other representatives of law enforcement agencies tortured detained Jehovah's Witnesses.\nAs previously reported, at least 7 peaceful Jehovah's Witnesses were subjected to electric shocks, strangulation and beatings in the building of the Investigative Committee of Russia at 47 Ostrovsky Street in Surgut. By torture, believers were forced to answer the questions: \"Where do the meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses take place? Who comes to the meetings? What are the names of the elders? What's the password on your phone?\"\nOn February 15 and 16, 2019, at least 7 peaceful Jehovah's Witnesses were tortured — electric shocks, strangulation.\nOn February 16, 2019, the hotline of the Investigative Committee of Russia (TFR) received an appeal with a request to take measures to the investigator of the Surgut Department of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug-Yugra Dmitry Asmolov in connection with reports of torture taking place on the first floor of the building of the Investigative Committee of Russia on Ostrovsky Street, 47, in Surgut in between his interrogations. After the hotline received a message about the torture of 57-year-old Sergey Loginov, he was immediately released, but after that he was again detained and under torture forced to write an explanation that no one had tortured him. After that, he was not allowed to go home. It is not known what is now in the pre-trial detention center with him, as well as with two other arrested - 42-year-old Yevgeny Fedin and 52-year-old Artur Severinchik.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2019-02-20T17:02:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/02/626/190220_zayavlenie_ob_otvode_sledstvennoy_gruppy4621_hu_eafea3695fa9e91d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/02/626/190220_zayavlenie_ob_otvode_sledstvennoy_gruppy4621.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/02/626/190220_zayavlenie_ob_otvode_sledstvennoy_gruppy4621_hu_df959481e97e0a27.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/02/626/190220_zayavlenie_ob_otvode_sledstvennoy_gruppy4621_hu_91459caa315c51aa.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/02/626.html","regions":["khanty-mansi"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["torture","complaints","sizo","torture-conditions"],"title":"Disqualification of the Investigation Team in Surgut in Connection with Allegations of Torture","type":"news"}]