Since May 3, in penal colony No. 9 in the Republic of Karelia, prisoner and native of Chechnya Beslan Gadaev has been on a hunger strike. He protests against regular placement in a punishment cell and various harassment by colony staff. This was reported by the Civic Assistance Committee.

The prisoner was transferred to the Karelian colony on May 3 and was immediately put in a punishment cell without explanation. On the day of his release, May 16, he was again placed in isolation. Gadaev is also not allowed to use his own utensils, and security regularly provokes him. 

The lawyer prepares official requests to the Federal Penitentiary Service and the prosecutor's office. The Karelian colony is known for its inhumane treatment of convicts: in February 2023, the ex-chief and his deputy were sentenced to real terms for beating a prisoner.

In 2007, Beslan Gadaev was extradited from Ukraine at the request of the Russian authorities. According to Russian special services, he took part in military operations against federal troops in Chechnya. Then a court in Chechnya sentenced him to 19 years. 

From 2007 to 2024, Gadaev served his sentence in different colonies. First - in IK-22 of the Primorsky Territory, where, without explanation, he was constantly kept in a punishment cell and in a cell-type room (PKT). Then the man was transferred to Chechnya to face criminal charges in a new case. Two more years were added to the term. Next, Gadaev was again sent to the Primorsky Territory to IK-27, and then to a single cell-type room (EPKT) of IK-6 in Spassk-Dalniy. Later, Beslan Gadaev was kept in IK-6 in the Vladimir region, where he also went on a hunger strike to protest against torture and threats from the deputy head of the colony and his subordinates.

Gadaev’s relatives have repeatedly contacted the Federal Penitentiary Service with a request to transfer him to a correctional facility located closer to their place of residence. His mother died in 2023 without ever seeing her son. 

It is known that a prisoner is placed in a punishment cell and subjected to torture based on his ethnicity. Many colony employees involved in the punishment of convicts from the North Caucasus reported instructions “from above.” 

Human rights activist Oyub Titiev, in a comment to our correspondent, noted that in many colonies of the Russian Federation, people from the North Caucasus and Muslims in general are deliberately oppressed. As for Beslan Gadaev, throughout his entire period of imprisonment there was an extremely biased attitude towards him on the part of the administration of correctional institutions. 

“In addition, for some reason he is constantly transferred from one colony to another and punished without explanation, without any reason. In the same Karelia, Gadaev did not have time to leave the first room in the punishment cell when his sentence was immediately extended for another 14 days without returning to a regular cell. He went through so many trials that not everyone could withstand. He is afraid to donate blood for analysis and eat food from someone else’s dishes,” shared Oyub Titiev.