On August 21, Ingushetia native Abdul-Malik Albagachiev, serving his sentence in IK-6 in the Astrakhan region, went on a hunger strike due to the violation of prisoners' rights. After that, his lawyer was unable to contact him.
Since 2018, Abdul-Malik Albagachiev has been serving a 9-year sentence on charges of participating in an illegal armed group in Syria and selling explosives. According to him, during the investigation, he was tortured by employees of the Ingush Center for Combating Extremism. While beating a confession, the security forces seriously undermined the prisoner's health, the human rights organization "Public Verdict" reports. His jaw and nose were broken, he suffered from headaches, and then epileptic seizures began.
In May 2023, the Nazran District Court considered the claim of Albagachiev's lawyers that he was not being provided with medical care, that he was not being given the necessary surgery, and that he was being placed in a punishment cell, although a person with such a diagnosis cannot be left alone. The court ordered doctors to operate on the prisoner and fined two Astrakhan colonies - IK-8 and IK-10 - for failing to provide the requested materials on the disciplinary proceedings against Albagachiev. After that, the prisoner was transferred to IK-6, but his problems did not end there either. On August 24, Albagachiev's lawyer Irina Biryukova, who collaborates with the Public Verdict, received a letter from him in which he reported that on August 21 he felt an attack approaching and asked the colony staff to call doctors. The duty officer instead began to provoke the prisoners to commit illegal acts, after which, according to Albagachiev, about 10 jailers beat one of the prisoners until he lost consciousness and carried him away in an unknown direction. Meanwhile, Albagachiev had another epileptic seizure. When he came to and was finally taken to a doctor, he saw blood near the cell where the prisoner had been beaten. "Because of this lawlessness, I refuse to eat. It feels like I am in some kind of secret prison where there is no justice, where prisoners have no rights," Albagachiev said.
The lawyer immediately contacted the prosecutor's office and the investigative department of the Astrakhan region, the local ombudsman and the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, demanding that an investigation be conducted into these events. At the same time, she tried to contact her client, but she received a notification from IK-6 that Albagachiev was “not listed” in the colony.
“I know that several prison medical workers in the Astrakhan region have previously been sentenced for negligent attitude to their duties, but I never imagined that the situation with medicine in the local prison department was so deplorable,” notes Irina Biryukova. “It’s not about the lack of medicine, although that also plays a role. It’s simply about the frankly disregardful attitude towards prisoners and their work. The prison administration does not call doctors, and doctors are unable to provide medical care.”
According to the “Public Verdict,” both the Astrakhan Federal Penitentiary Service and the local ombudsman’s office are aware of the systemic shortcomings in the provision of medical care to prisoners. In 2019, a criminal case was heard in Astrakhan against a paramedic from Medical Unit No. 6, who failed to organize the hospitalization of a convicted person, and he died as a result. Later, an employee of Medical Unit No. 30 of the Federal Penitentiary Service was tried, accused of abuse of office and bribery. In 2021, the acting head of the branch of Medical Unit No. 2 and a general practitioner were found guilty of negligence leading to the death of a prisoner. The unsatisfactory work and multiple violations in the provision of medical care by employees of Medical Unit No. 30 are also mentioned in the annual report of the local Human Rights Commissioner.