PO demands tougher punishment for rights defender Igor Nagavkin

Igor Nagavkin, a human rights defender has stated numerous violations and falsifications at the trial of the theft of gold jewellery by the first-instance court. The Volgograd Regional Court, where his appeal is considered, has rejected all of his motions. The Prosecutor's Office (PO) has demanded to increase Nagavkin's prison term by two years.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 18, 2023, the court found Nagavkin guilty of stealing jewellery and sentenced him to six years of freedom deprivation. Nagavkin was twice placed in the dungeon (punishment cell) at the SIZO (pre-trial prison); his defence insists that the incidents were rigged.

In his complaint, Nagavkin listed violations of convicts' rights to defence. This, in his opinion, should entail the annulment of the verdict, "since the verdict was based on inadmissible proofs."

Ilya Govorukhin, an advocate, has stated that the SIZO administration used to put pressure on Nagavkin.

Lev Ponomaryov**, a human rights defender, has called Nagavkin "the strongest human rights defender in the province." He had collaborated with Lev Ponomaryov** for more than 10 years. "During this time, Igor was an expert with the Russian Ombudsperson. He managed to ensure that for some time there were no cases of torture in the colonies located in the Volgograd Region. He had fought against drug dealers in his city," Mr Ponomaryov** has added.

*By the Russian Supreme Court the movement has been recognized to be a terrorist organization.

**Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.