Public Committee: Azamat Ahkumbekov’s prison conditions in the investigative isolation ward of Nalchik are fatal for his health

Prison conditions of Azamat Ahkumbekov, defendant on the case of an attack at Nalchik on October, 13, 2005, may be seriously be injurious to his health. This was a conclusion of Public Committee of Control over institutions of confinement in Kabardino-Balkaria after a visit to the investigative isolation ward of the capital of the republic.

Earlier, Azamat Ahkumbekov’s wife Elena reported her husband’s very poor prison conditions in the investigative isolation ward No 1 of Nalchik stating that she had fears for his life and asked for measures of prosecutor's and other kinds of response to suppress the violations.

According to Ahkumbekova, during his imprisonment in the investigative isolation ward her husband has suffered from chronic cholecystitis, a trauma of his left shin which resulted in chronic venous insufficiency, tuberculosis of the upper lung lobe with aftereffects of the illness.

Elena Ahkumbekova says that her husband has an active stand in the process on the case of the attack at Nalchik and this, in her opinion, is the reason why he is constantly put into a secure lock-up of a special department upon farfetched reports of operative agents of the investigative isolation ward.

According to her, the situation has constantly repeated every two or five days during the last two months.

Ahkumbekov currently suffers from double-sided otitus which he and his attorney Tuganov declared during the trial of June, 23, 2011, asking to call a physician to the courtroom during the break.

Chief of the investigative isolation ward No 1 Popov explained to the members of Public Committee that Ahkumbekov was moved to a secure lock-up for violating custodial regime. “Ahkumbekov glued up the video surveillance set in his cell and disabled it in this way”, Popov said.

Upon the results of their visit to the secure lock-up on June, 20, members of the Committee drew up a report in which they arrived at a conclusion that keeping Ahkumbekov in a semi-basement might seriously damage his health. They advised the management of the investigative isolation ward to move Ahkumbekov to another cell located in the ground or another floor.