50 Muslims go on hunger strike in KBR's SIZO

Today, about 50 Muslims have declared hunger strike at the SIZO (pre-trial prison) of the capital of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR). They are protesting against the obstruction in the performance of religious rites. This was reported by bloggers.

The information on the protest action was received by the SMS-service of the "Caucasian Knot". "In the SIZO No. 1 of Nalchik, 50 Muslims went on hunger strike," the author of the SMS has written today at 10:56 p.m.

The information about the hunger strike has also appeared in the social networks. In the SIZO No. 1 of Nalchik, "Muslims who observe the performance of religious rites, went on mass hunger strike because of the open harassment by the administration," user Abdurakhman Savagev has reported today on his page on the social network "Facebook".

"On the eve of the beginning of Ramadan, the penal colony administration began to intentionally escalate the situation. At first, they have switched off sockets, and that fact complicates the performance of suhoor and iftar (evening and morning meal during Ramadan, respectively). No electric light is turned on from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Then, all the inmates' relatives are refused to pass the transfers. Even those SIZO inmates, who are not on hunger strike, are refused to get transfers at all," he has noted.

The information has not been confirmed officially. Till present, the heads of the SIZO administration and the Department for the KBR of the Federal Penitentiary Service (known as FSIN) have not commented on the information.