Torture in IK-7 were

Prisoners and their relatives talked about the situation in the Segezh colony

On November 28, the deputy head of the Federal Penitentiary Service Valery Maksimenko called Ildar Dadin “a talented imitator”: according to him, the official audit did not find confirmation that the civil activist was tortured in the colony (Dadin himself told about this in his letters from IK-7). A few hours later, in the Sakharov Center, relatives of prisoners who are in IK-7, and those who had previously served a term there, gathered together to tell reporters: torture in Karelia is really used.

Ildar Dadin spoke about torture in the Segezhi IK-7 in early November, other similar evidence of what was happening in the colony began to appear. Some talked about torture anonymously, others did not hide their name ; However, together and publicly former prisoners and relatives of those who are now in IK-7 did not perform.

On November 28, the first press conference of relatives of the IK-7 prisoners was held at the Sakharov Center. She was not dedicated to Ildar Dadin, but a general situation in the colony. “Today we will refute the fact that he [the deputy head of the FSIN Valery Maksimenko] said. Torture were also applied to other prisoners, ”said Lev Ponomarev, director of the All-Russian movement“ For Human Rights ”, who was moderated by the press conference. According to him, it is necessary to make a “political decision” and close the “torture zone in Karelia”.

The main characters of the press conference were relatives of the prisoners of the Segezh colony; Among them is the mother and brother of Khazbulat Gabzaev. He ended up in IK-7 in May 2016, after which he was placed in a schizo. Khazbulat told relatives that he was beaten in the isolator, stretched his legs, beat on the heels; He was also thrusting his head into the toilet and lowered water. Repeatedly Gabzaev got into the schizo for the fact that he - a believer Muslim - refused to eat pork: for the official reason - for obscene abuse. Now Gabzaev continues to sit in a schizo. His mother turned to the head of IK-7 to Sergey Kossiev with a request to send her son to the hospital (Hazbulat's right ear ceased to hear); Kossiev replied that they sent a request to the hospital and are still waiting for an answer.

The mother of another prisoner, Zelimkhan Gelishanova, said that her son was in IK-7 in 2012, and sat in a schizo throughout the year. There, Geliskhanov applied cruel tortures that led to the rupture of the ligaments, as well as to epileptic seizures. According to the prisoner’s mother, he twice tried to commit suicide. “They told him twice that they were going to rape him. Beating in the colony is not as dangerous as moral humiliation, ”Gelishanova said.

Former prisoners IK-7 turned to those present on Skype. Each of them - there were four of them in total - talked about the mandatory stay of the newly arrived prisoners in the schizo. Twice a day, checks are carried out in the penalty area, during which prisoners are taken to the corridor (there are no video cameras in it) and beat. In addition, they talked about the so -called “stretch marks”: two inspectors take the prisoner by the legs, raise them into the air and begin to stretch in different directions; Behind someone supports the prisoner behind his back so that he does not fall, and the fourth inspector pulls him down. Then they throw them on the floor and begin to kick on the legs and kidneys - so as not to leave traces. According to former prisoners, with each beating there were nurses who said to them “tolerate” and “do not pretend”.

Former prisoners noted that almost all FSIN employees working in the colony participated in torture and beatings; Often, they were attended by the chief of IK-7 Sergey Kossiev. The mother of the prisoner Zelimkhan Gelishanov suggested that Kossiev was “hidden” during the audit caused by the letter of Ildar Dadin, because Kossiev was “mentally unstable”. “It can be easily provoked so that he will show his true nature of the sadist,” Gelishanova said. She met with Kossiev personally.

The wife of civil activist Ildar Dadina Anastasia Zotova, who organized a connection with former prisoners on Skype, said that she talked with the "Russian guys" from Petrozavodsk, who was sitting in Segezh. According to Zotova, they do not want to testify, because they are afraid that they will “throw drugs”-and they will return to IK-7 again.

Separately, the audience told about the "activists" - prisoners who help the administration. Former prisoners said that only Russians were offered to become an “activist”. According to Lev Ponomarev, mainly “activists” are those who hit the colony under the article for rape.

Lev Ponomarev added that civilian activists collect materials to contact the IC and the prosecutor’s office demanding to initiate a criminal case and conduct a comprehensive audit on the use of torture in the Segezh colony at the federal level. The investigation of what happened is also the Human Rights Council. “There were facts of legal application [forces], which FSIN is talking about - but there were facts and illegal use of violence towards citizens. I am absolutely convinced of this, ” said Igor Kalyapin, head of the torture prevention committee on November 28, adding that in this case,“ we should not talk about imitator's abilities ”.

Sasha Sulim

Moscow