Rights defenders report Chechen native being tortured in colony

Zubair Zubairaev, a native of Chechnya, is being tortured in the colony of the town of Minusinsk of the Krasnoyarsk Territory: he got bruise, signs of brain concussion, and fracture in spinal column. This was declared today by Svetlana Gannushkina, the head of the "Civil Assistance" Committee, during the press conference "Torture and beatings in Russian prisons".

Svetlana Gannushkina called the case with Zubairaev as "extraordinarily tragic". "His family was beside military operations in the Caucasus; however, he (Zubairaev) still got to the 'black list'. He defamed himself, confirming the fact that he had collaborated with militants. He was sentenced to five years of imprisonment for that," Svetlana Gannushkina has noted.

"He's got marks of nails in his feet. He was being nailed to a floor by a plank. Zubairaev said he would not be able to return from prison. He was moved from one prison with less strict orders to another prison, where orders are much stricter," Moussa Khadisov, the lawyer of Zubairaev, stated.

According to him, the Federal Penitentiary Service (known as FSIN) "explains that by the fact that the prisoner abused the personnel of the correctional institution"; however, "the investigators fail to confirm that".

Malika Zubairaeva, the sister of the prisoner, said that her brother was helped by his cell inmates only. "A powder was strewed to the wounds of my brother, in order the wounds do not heal. Besides, his sinews were broken and were not sewed to heal. His cellmates somehow help him at their own risk, although the prison authorities strictly forbade helping him," the woman said.

According to her, "brother is afraid to seek assistance from the prison doctors, since he believes that they would only hurt him". She asked the journalists to highlight the situation as detailed as possible.

Elena Sannikova, the journalist and human rights activist believes that in case if the media do not pay attention to the situation, Zubairaev might be killed.

"He does not lose heart. He is said to drop writing complaints, then he would not be oppressed. But he, like a true man, still writes appeals. Therefore, we should protect him," Elena Sannikova believes.

Comments from the FSIN or the colony authorities are still unavailable.