Publicity of torture data leads to new case against Visangiriyev

A criminal case has been opened against Chechen native Said-Akhmed Visangiriyev, who reported torture and threats in a penal colony in the Vladimir region, under the article on beatings due to a conflict with another prisoner who provoked him. The conflict occurred before Visangiriyev reported torture.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel wrote, in early July, the Human Rights Commissioner in Chechnya Mansur Soltayev reported on the transfer of Said-Akhmed Visangiriyev from a penal colony in the Vladimir region, whose relatives reported cruel treatment of the prisoner. But immediately after the transfer, Visangiriyev was placed in a punishment cell, and then in a single cell-type facility for six months. According to the lawyer, Visangiriyev was tortured and threatened in the colony in the Vladimir region, and now he is being pressured to retract his words.

Said-Akhmad Visangiriyev still remains in a single cell-type room (SCT) in his colony, prisoner Said-Magomed's brother told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"Said-Akhmad spent a month there, and has months left. The situation is this: he went to the "hospital" (another colony in the Vladimir region for a medical examination) with complaints about his health, he did not think that such lawlessness was happening there. When he was returned (to the previous colony), this provocation was set up for him. Before leaving, they brought him in, told him to take off his outer robe, supposedly to see if there were any beatings. When he took off his outerwear, they took a photo of him and made up a fictitious report. When my brother asked why they were doing this, they answered that "there was an order." Upon arrival at colony No. 6, they read him the report, that he was not dressed in the proper uniform, and was sent to solitary confinement for ten days. And after these ten days, there was another alleged violation, and he was given six months of the EKPT," said Sayd-Magomed Visangiriyev.

According to his brother, Said-Akhmad is not receiving medical care. “Of course, there is no pressure in the EKPT that there was in (the previous colony), but he went there with suspicions of oncology, which, it seems, was not confirmed. I think they are deliberately hiding his illness, because on the basis of this illness they are forced to release him altogether. But my brother’s condition is not very good: he has pain in his side, his eye twitches even in his sleep. The medicines that we sent him still remain undelivered. Two days ago, he was given the opportunity to call his wife. He personally said on the phone: “If everyone knew what is going on inside here, I swear to Allah, according to the law they have no right to keep me here for a single day,” Said-Magomed Visangiriyev reported his brother’s words.

He also reported that a new case was opened against his brother due to a conflict with another prisoner who provoked him. "He was convicted under Article 162 of the Criminal Code (robbery), then in the colony they added Article 282 (incitement of hatred or enmity) to him so that he could not ask to be moved closer to home. And now, because of an old incident, he is charged under Article 116 of the Criminal Code (battery): they planted a man next to him who deliberately provoked him. He tried to get through to his superiors for 17 days, asking them to remove this man. They removed him for two days, then planted him again," Visangiriyev's brother explained.

Currently, Said-Akhmad has several lawyers who visit him on Wednesdays and Fridays. "A prosecutor's inspection is currently underway, and there is no conclusion from this prosecutor's inspection yet. But we are waiting for a response based on the results of the prosecutor's inspection, and then we will act based on their response. In the survey, my brother indicated the exact places where the beatings took place: headquarters, supply room, therapy. I hope the video recordings will be found and viewed," Said-Magomed Visangiriyev said.

Intentional pressure on religious people, especially Muslims, is currently less common in prisons than before, according to the head of the Foundation for the Protection of Prisoners' Rights* Valentin Bogdan. "They took away Korans and rugs with the aim of provoking aggression, and then, on this basis, issue a penalty to the person, depriving him of the right to parole. These are provocative actions of a general nature," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

At the same time, provocations using other prisoners associated with the administration - the so-called "developers" - are still widely used against prisoners who are objectionable to the colony leadership, the human rights activist noted. "As a rule, these are the most odious, sadists who have a long sentence. They have no stake, no yard, their relatives have abandoned them, and for any indulgences, cigarettes, maybe even sometimes drugs, they are ready to do anything. They, so to speak, improve their conditions of detention by following these scoundrelly unspoken instructions," Bogdan said.

He noted that prisoners in the service of the administration themselves can then become "scapegoats": this, according to human rights activists, happened with prisoners who tortured alleged participants in the riot that took place in 2020 in one of the colonies in the Irkutsk region.

"Seven criminal cases were opened against these "developers", 30 people from among the convicts who were abused were recognized as victims. This year alone, trials are ending where the "developers" are found guilty, and only two cases where employees were involved. The system is trying to whitewash employees, they are escaping responsibility," Bogdan explained.

There are still many cases of abuse of Muslims, especially those from Chechnya and other republics of the North Caucasus, in Russian colonies, said a human rights activist familiar with the situation in the North Caucasus Federal District, on condition of anonymity. "Almost all prisoners who profess Islam are subject to abuse and discrimination, but those from Chechnya are treated especially well, this is still the result of two wars. And especially if a person is convicted under articles for resistance, regardless of whether the case is fabricated or not," he noted.

The human rights activist noted that after Visangiriyev made public the facts of torture, abuse and outrages, a new case was opened against him. "The administration of the colony, higher and control bodies, instead of taking measures to eliminate the arbitrariness, decided to punish him. A new criminal case was opened against him under Article 116. The reason was that he once fought back against another convict who was showing aggression towards him," he explained.

The human rights activist confirmed that the administration often uses dummy convicts to put pressure on "unwanted" people. "This happens all the time in most colonies," he emphasized.

* is included in the register of foreign agents.

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