Kabardino-Balkaria: Nalchik SIZO inmates complain of oppressions against Moslems

The inmates of the pre-trial isolation facility (SIZO) of the city of Nalchik, defendants in the criminal case on the attack on power agencies of Kabardino-Balkaria on October 13, 2005, complain of their custody conditions.

It has become known to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent from well-informed sources that the complaint states the problems that exist at the SIZO with religious worship.

"Any person here who professes Islam is perceived as the nation's enemy. We are forbidden to have religious literature. Not just religious, but also any legal and even science-educative books. During the two years in custody, we did not see any clergy, although we have spiritual problems," runs the inmates' letter.

Further, the application runs that the defendants' rights are violated by the convoy, when inmates are brought from the SIZO to the courtroom.

"Despite the winter season, we are forced to undress and stay undressed outdoors for a long time... When we are taken from the courtroom to lunch, they force us to run, accompanying the process by abusive language."

The inmates' relatives have informed the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that one of the detainees sick with an open form of tuberculosis. He is taken to the trial from the prison hospital and put on the bench together with other defendants, exposing them to a risk of infection. The relatives are going to protest against this patient being placed together with others, and the advocates want to lodge a petition on his release under recognizance not to leave.