Woman from Ingushetia states her brother was tortured in prison in Vladimir Region

Rizvan Elbiev, a native of Chechnya, is exposed to mockeries at Corrective Colony No. 4, located in Vyazniki, Vladimir Region. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told about it by his sister - Saikhat Elmurzaeva, who lives in Ingushetia.

"My brother is an invalid, and he can move only in a wheelchair. One of prisoners wrote to us saying that my brother is goofed on; nobody is let to approach him, and he is kept in a solitary cell. I think he is beaten and tortured, as before," said Saikhat Elmurzaeva.

Rizvan Elbiev, 51, was convicted in 2006 by the Supreme Court of Russia as a member of armed formations in Chechnya to 26 years of imprisonment.

"My brother was absolutely healthy before conviction. In the Yaroslavl Region, where he was initially kept, he was severely tortured and beaten. As a result of tortures he had blood-stroke and became invalid. In 2009, he started using a wheelchair; however, that was not the end of his problems. In the end of 2009, he was transferred to the Vladimir Region, and we learnt about it only three months later," Ms Elmurzaeva said.

In early February 2010, Rizvan Elbiev, as his sister reports, went on hunger strike in protest against the way he was treated. "We are not able to visit him outside Northern Caucasus, and, consequently, we'd like the brother to be transferred closer," the sister said.

Timur Akiev, head of the office of the HRC "Memorial" in Ingushetia, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that a request had been sent to the corrective establishment, where Rizvan Elbiev is kept, asking to check the facts narrated by his sister Saikhat.

"The answer usually arrives within a month," Mr Akiev has noted.

Meanwhile, the press service of the UFSIN (Department of Federal Correction Service) for the Vladimir Region has reported that for the time being Rizvan Elbiev has no disciplinary penalties and is kept in a general cell.

"Yes, Rizvan Elbiev is in Corrective Colony No. 4. He repeatedly wrote complaints and applications. It's hard to say which of them were truthful. Under his complaints, a prosecutor's check was recently held, and Elbiev himself was examined by doctors," said a source in the press service.

According to the press service, Elbiev receives the necessary health care and is kept in due conditions.

However, when asked by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, whether the prosecutor's check had revealed any violations in relation to Elbiev, the press service spokesman answered evasively.

It not a unique case, when residents of Ingushetia worry about the fate of their relatives who serve their terms outside the republic. The "Caucasian Knot" reported earlier that the well-known Ingush writer Issa Kodzoev complained of persecutions of his son Zyalmakh Kodzoev by the staff of corrective establishments in Mordovia. However, the press service of the UFSIN for the Republic of Mordovia rejects the facts.

Earlier, in December 2009, Issa Kozdoev told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that at the Medical-Corrective Establishment FBU LIU-4 of city of Izhevsk, his son was ordered "to give up his Islam and pass over to Christianity," while beating and abusing him at the same time.