FSIN denies information about torture of human rights activist Mokhnatkin

The Department of the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Arkhangelsk region called unreliable information about the torture of human rights activist Sergei Mokhnatkin. This was reported on the official website of the department.

“The information published in a number of media about the convicted Mokhnatkin S.E., who is serving a sentence in one of the correctional institutions of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in the Arkhangelsk Region, does not correspond to reality,” the official statement says.

The release notes that all the facts of the use of special equipment are recorded on video recorders and internal checks are carried out on them. The department also reports that Mokhnatkin is currently being held in a cell-type room under round-the-clock video surveillance.

On July 25, 64-year-old Sergei Mokhnatkin, who is serving a term in penal colony No. 21, informed public defender Andrei Krekov about the gassing. According to Krekov, the colony employees sprayed gas into the PKT (chamber-type room) of Mokhnatkin. The concentration of the gas was so high that it could be felt even in neighboring cells. The public defender noted that this is the second time that gas has been sprayed in Mokhnatkin's cell.

• On December 10, 2014, Mokhnatkin was sentenced to four and a half years in prison on charges of using force against police officers (Part 1, Article 318 of the Criminal Code). On March 20, 2017, the activist was found guilty of disrupting the activities of institutions that ensure isolation from society (Part 2 of Article 321 of the Criminal Code) and sentenced to two additional years of strict regime.
• Mokhnatkin has been on a hunger strike for 12 days. He has back problems, he has lost a lot of weight and, according to Krekov, looks bad - he drew attention to the blue color of his lips. Despite the recommendation of the doctor of the medical unit, Mokhnatkin was not placed in the prison hospital. In addition, the staff of the colony hide information about his state of health.