“They strangled me, then my brain switched off.” Journalist Maria Ponomarenko spoke about torture in the colony

Journalist Maria Ponomarenko spoke about torture in the colony. RusNews published quotes from her letter to the editor.

In IK-6 Shipunovo in the Altai Territory, according to Ponomarenko, prisoners are kept in unsanitary conditions, cells are constantly searched, and colony staff use obscene language. In addition, prisoners are not provided with medical care. Ponomarenko writes that among them “there was a woman with a terrible cough, spitting up blood.”

Also, according to her, in the colony they took away all her personal belongings, including hygiene products. RusNews writes that the guards “burst into Maria’s toilet, located opposite the surveillance camera,” set other prisoners against her, and each time stripped her down to her underpants before meetings with her lawyer.

On October 11, Ponomarenko went on a hunger strike, demanding to “stop the lawlessness.” The next day, as RusNews writes, she woke up “feeling terrible on the floor of the punishment cell near the battery.” The publication claims that a report was drawn up against her for this, which was later canceled, but she was still summoned to the commission. The journalist refused to go there due to poor health.

“In the end, two guys provided power by twisting their arms into a rearing position. Sparks flew from the eyes from the pain (the shoulder joint of the right arm never fully recovered). So they dragged me barefoot across half the zone, along the street, along the parade ground. The last thing I remember was being strangled on the stairs, then my brain switched off,” writes Ponomarenko.

According to her, she woke up already on the street and thought that the commission had not taken place. However, colony officials claim the opposite.

“According to the employees at the commission, she stepped with her bare feet on the feet of the shod inspectors who were holding hands, and spat on the carpet. That same day, after everything, she fainted, getting a lump on her forehead,” Ponomarenko continues in her letter.

RusNews writes that a second criminal case has been opened against Ponomarenko, but does not specify under what article. According to the journalist herself, when she was in IK-22 in Krasnoyarsk, she noticed that they were trying to accuse her of treason or justifying terrorism.

Also, according to the publication, Ponomarenko was sent for a psychiatric examination, where she was injected with some drugs. Reportedly, she was supposed to stay in a psychiatric hospital for 28 days, but a week later she was transferred to pre-trial detention center-1 of Barnaul. currently She is in the Shipunovo temporary detention facility.

“My lawyer never bothered to call the clinic, knowing about last year’s trash talk,” the journalist writes, noting that she wants to change her lawyer.

In mid-February 2023, Ponomarenko was sentenced to six years in prison on charges of spreading “fakes” about the Russian army. The reason for initiating a criminal case was a post on Instagram about the Russian shelling of the Drama Theater in Mariupol.

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