Alaudin Dudko's custody extended

Blogger Alaudin Dudko, known under the nick of ingushetiya_ru, was transferred from the isolation facility of the Butyrka prison to the Lefortovo similar facility. The judicial session, where decision on his freedom restriction measure was made, ruled to leave him behind bars for three more months, while the investigation on his case continues.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the blogger was arrested in Moscow on charges of storing drugs and explosives, and since May 7 was kept at the Butyrka SIZO.

Members of the public observation commission in charge of monitoring custody conditions have visited Mr Dudko in Lefortovo.

"He was transferred there for the reasons unknown both to us and the administration of the facility. <…> Cells are no better there. Instead of toilet - a bucket like a cone, somehow attached to the sewage; it can't be even separated by a curtain. Double window leaves make it impossible to breathe: I nearly fainted in that cell. They promised to remove the second leaf right after our departure," said Anna Karetnikova, a human rights defender.

According to her story, four persons were kept in the cell for two at the moment of their visit.

She also said that Dudko's personal things were sent to the warehouse, when he arrived from the Butyrka prisons, and would not be returned, despite his complaints.

Ms Karetnikova wrote in her blog about her impressions of contacts with the administration of Lefortovo: "In general, the people there are not simple. They believe that we can visit the inmates only upon inspector's permit; and, allegedly, on that occasion they had requested such permit. This vicious tendency should be overcome somehow."

In the meantime, another story is unfolding in parallel, which has to do with Dudko's case. As reported by his wife Madina, before detention of her husband some unknown people had addressed her through local district militia with a promise to organize her departure abroad with her children.

"Those persons knew about the difficult situation in my husband's family (apartment dispute) and offered the help me to leave abroad. In exchange, they also asked to help them - to install some device into Alaudin's computer, from which he had been running his ingushetiya_ru. I refused, as I felt that something was wrong. However, then those people appeared in my flat under the pretext of having a conversation. I knew them by appearance; that is why, I opened the door. 20 minutes after their departure, they came again and 'detected' a package with trotyl, allegedly belonging to my husband. Then, he had been already in custody. Alas, I learnt about it too late. The innocent person is behind bars, and I feel guilty," said Madina.