Nadya Tolokonnikova, a member of Pussy Riot protest group who was in prison for nearly 22 months in 2012-13, recalls sewing for 16- to 18-hour shifts. “It’s a system of slavery, and it is truly horrible,” she told AP.Inmates are supposed to be paid not less than minimum wage -– 19,242 rubles (about $200) a month in 2024 -– but in reality it’s as little as 300 rubles (about $3.20) — enough to buy cigarettes and sanitary products at the prison kiosk, Graf said.Intimidation and repressionTolokonnikova said when she arrived at Penal Colony No. 14 in the Mordovia region, the warden described himself as a “Stalinist.” She said he told her: “You may be a somebody outside of this colony, have a voice, people who support you and care for you, but here, you are in completely in my power, and you need to understand this.”Although prisons are technically overseen by commissions that do inspections and advocate for inmates, their members in recent years have been replaced by government loyalists, says Svetova, who served on a commission from 2008-16.She said the current government uses prisons for intimidation and oppression.Reports of physical abuse are common for ordinary inmates but rare for political prisoners, advocates say. Instead, intimidation often comes via enforcing minor infractions, said Amnesty’s Kozlovsky.Navalny spent months in a punishment cell for not buttoning his uniform properly or not putting his hands behind his back when required. He once described it as a “concrete kennel” of 2½-by-3 meters (8-by-10-feet) that, depending on the season, was “cold and damp,” or “hot and there’s almost no air.”Long stints in punishment cells or other types of solitary confinement are a reality for many, and their only lifeline is a visit from a lawyer or writing letters that are censored and sometimes take weeks to arrive; some colonies use a faster online service.A toll on prisoners’ healthHealth care is almost nonexistent, current and former inmates and advocates say, with only basic drugs available, if at all.“Prison guards by default believe the inmate is faking and only complaining about health issues to get some kind of extra privileges,” said Tolokonnikova.Not surprisingly, inmates don’t fare well in such conditions.Yevgenia Kara-Murza said her 42-year-old husband’s health has worsened in solitary.He suffered two near-fatal poisonings in 2015 and 2017 and developed polyneuropathy, a condition that deadens the feeling in his limbs. While he received some treatment in pretrial detention in Moscow, there has been none at the penal colony in Omsk.“He needs physical therapy, exercise,” which is hardly possible in his cell, she said.Alexei Gorinov, a former member of a Moscow municipal council serving seven years for speaking against the war in Ukraine, suffers from a chronic respiratory condition and had part of a lung removed before imprisoned. His health deteriorated during six weeks in solitary confinement, and he is still recovering.
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