Three more human rights activists were recognized as witnesses in cases of torture of prisoners after the riot in the Angarsk colony

The Investigative Committee recognized three lawyers from Siberia Without Torture as witnesses in cases of torture of prisoners after a riot in the Angarsk maximum security colony No. 15. about this The head of the organization, Svyatoslav Khromenkov, spoke on VKontakte.

Summons about this were handed to them by operatives of the internal security department of the Irkutsk Main Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service.

We are talking about three cases of rape of Ondar Kezhik in the Irkutsk pre-trial detention center-1, Takhirzhon Bakiev in the Angarsk penal colony-6 and Evgeniy Yurchenko in the penal colony-15 itself. in these cases . In March, Khromenkov himself was given witness status

Defense attorneys cannot participate in the proceedings if they have previously participated in it as a witness. Khromenkov admitted that the investigation is trying to “remove” human rights activists from cases of torture after the riot in order to “superficially investigate” them and “report on the work done.”

“We believe that this is pressure for human rights activities. And there is a ruling of the Constitutional Court in our favor,” he noted. In 2019, the Constitutional Court noted that interrogation and other investigative actions of lawyers create a threat to attorney-client privilege and are “allowed only on the basis of a court decision.”

Gulagu.net reported that fellow inmates in pre-trial detention center No. 1 shoved a boiler into the anus of prisoner Ondar. Prisoners of IK-6 Takhirjon Bakiev and Yevgeny Yurchenko , according to human rights activists, were also tortured. there in April 2020 All three prisoners were serving their sentences in Angarsk IK-15 when a riot occurred .

In total, after an inspection in the Irkutsk institutions of the Federal Penitentiary Service in the winter of 2021, were initiated nine criminal cases ; At least 75 people were injured. “We are identifying and have already practically identified the main group of people who were involved in these abuses <...> I hope that we will bring all criminal cases to an end. Unfortunately, this abscess has been developing for decades,” said FSIN director Alexander Kalashnikov in May.