Memorial member Bakhrom Khamroev, who was previously sentenced to 14 years in prison for helping Muslims, spoke about the beating in the Vladimir Central prison. This was reported by Mediazona with reference to Khamroev’s wife Zukhra.
The human rights activist was taken to prison on December 20, then the administration of the institution confiscated the Koran from him. Over the next month, he demanded that at least five complaints about conditions of detention be accepted. On January 23, according to Zukhra Khamroeva, her husband was taken out of his cell under the pretext of a search and severely beaten. “They beat him in the legs, in the groin, in the kidneys, there were bleeding abrasions on his back, and he lost consciousness from a blow to the head,” she told reporters.
After this, lawyer Khamroev was twice not allowed to see his client, and doctors refused to record the beatings. Other Muslims held in the facility demanded an end to the abuse, some of them also survived beatings. However, the human rights activist managed to send a complaint to the Investigative Committee, which is now conducting an investigation. After submitting the application, Khamroev was returned the confiscated Koran and medicines. Zukhra notes that shortly before the beating, prison doctors prescribed her husband a medicine that caused him to have severe headaches. “There was a pounding in his head from every step, his head was splitting from pain, he could not go to the toilet,” she describes his condition.
In May 2023, 60-year-old Khamroev was sentenced to 14 years in prison on charges of promoting terrorism (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) and participation in the activities of a terrorist organization (Part 1 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code). Both charges relate to Khamroev’s work on cases of alleged Hizb ut-Tahrir members.
On February 9, human rights activist Bakhrom Khamroev, who was serving a prison sentence, was sent to a punishment cell for five days. This was reported by Mediazona with reference to the prisoner’s wife.
The formal reason for the penalty was violation of the dress code. “During those days when he was not given medicine and was in pain, he was forced to take off his uniform, ” explained Khamroev’s wife.
- Bakhrom Khamroev has been involved in human rights activities in Russia since 1992. In recent years, he has most often defended the rights of migrants from Asia and Russian Muslims. In February 2020, the court dismissed the criminal case against the human rights activist under the article on fictitious registration of foreigners (Article 322.2 of the Criminal Code) due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. In 2016 and 2017, Khamroev’s home was searched because of the case of two refugees from Uzbekistan, in which the human rights activist was a witness. The last criminal case was opened in February 2022: then searches took place at his home, as well as in the offices of Memorial and Civic Assistance, and the human rights activist himself ended up in a pre-trial detention center.
- The Islamist party Hizb ut-Tahrir was recognized as a terrorist organization in Russia. Its participants are accused and sentenced to real terms only on the basis that they met in apartments, read religious literature and recruited new participants. According to the Research Center "Owl" and the project “Support for political prisoners. Memorial” , the party is illegally recognized as terrorist in Russia.
- In April, Khamroev’s nephew was arrested for 10 days because he refused to sign a summons to the military registration and enlistment office. His girlfriend said that during the arrest the young man was beaten.