KBR's POC announces check after arson in penal colony

The prisoners who had set fire to mattresses in a colony in the Chegem District were placed into the dungeon (punishment cell) legally, a check is underway, the Department for the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (known as FSIN) and the local Public Oversight Commission (POC) have reported. Depending on investigators' conclusions, the above prisoners may be charged under an administrative article for violating the order or receive punishment under a criminal article, for example, for hooliganism, vandalism or disorganization of the colony's work, a lawyer has explained.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported referring to sources that six prisoners of Penal Colony No. 3 located in the Chegem District, set fire to mattresses in their cell and started a fire in protest against their placement into the dungeon.

The prisoners' act was justified by demands for custody regime relaxation, the press service of the above FSIN's Department for the KBR has stated.

"These prisoners were placed into the dungeon on legal grounds for committed violations. But they didn't want to go there and expressed their protest in that way," the above press service has stated.

According to the press service source, the colony where the incident took place is intended for the men who have been convicted not for the first time. "Everyone has been convicted of grave crimes – murders, robberies and thefts," the source has added.

Previously, no complaints had been received from the prisoners of the colony where the incident occurred, Valery Khatazhukov, the head of the KBR's Human Rights Centre, has noted.

Violations of prisoners' rights to one degree or another occurs at penitentiary institutions, Zaur Shokuev, a lawyer at the KBR's Regional Human Rights Centre, has stated.

Prisoners can be punished first of all with disciplinary sanctions, said Timofei Shirokov, a lawyer.

The "Caucasian Knot" has also reported that on February 24, 2023, seven prisoners of a colony in the KBR were fined on charges of promoting extremist symbols.