Drug free colony

The former head of the City Without Drugs Foundation, Yegor Bychkov, was sentenced to three and a half years in a maximum security colony. This decision was made on October 12 by the Dzerzhinsky District Court of Nizhny Tagil.

The fighter against drug dealers and drug addicts was accused of kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, and torture. According to investigators, Bychkov took all these measures in relation to people undergoing rehabilitation at the City Without Drugs foundation. The prosecutor's office demanded that Bychkov be imprisoned for 12 years. The court, however, considered only four episodes of kidnapping and one arrest proven. The founder of the foundation, Evgeniy Roizman, writes in his blog that kidnapping is, in fact, “the delivery of a drug addict at the request of his parents (and according to an official agreement concluded with them) from home to a rehabilitation center,” and detention is “someone trying to go inject drugs, but Yegor didn’t let go.” The court rejected everything related to beatings and torture.

Bychkov himself believes that the charges are fabricated, and the process was initiated by drug dealers and corrupt local law enforcement officials.

As Ekho Moskvy reports, Bychkov’s lawyer noted that some patients who were undergoing rehabilitation at his client’s foundation did not confirm the stories they told earlier in court, but this was not noted in the verdict. The defense will appeal the court's decision.

During the process, a broad campaign was launched in support of Bychkov. A letter calling for an end to his persecution was distributed on blogs; journalists, politicians, human rights activists, and representatives of the Orthodox Church joined these calls.