Lawyers treat it preferable for Zhuravel, Koran-burner, to stay at SIZO

Serving his sentence at the SIZO (pre-trial prison) instead of a penal colony can ease the convict's situation; in particular, he is exposed to less risk from other convicts, lawyers and human rights defenders have noted in their comments on the situation with Nikita Zhuravel.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Nikita Zhuravel, convicted of burning down the Koran, remained at the Grozny SIZO, where he is serving his sentence and working in the utility block. On February 27, the court sentenced him to 3.5 years in colony, finding him guilty of violating the right to religion and hooliganism. On July 25, it became known that Zhuravel had not appealed against his sentence.

Most of the human rights defenders and lawyers interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" have treated the decision to leave Zhuravel at the Grozny SIZO as a favourable outcome.

If a convict agrees to cooperate with the administration, he is given a chance to stay at the SIZO, said Alexei Golenko, a lawyer with the Moscow Bar Association, adding that "this convict performs the work as a SIZO service staff; for example, delivers food. Probably, Zhuravel has entered into an agreement with the administration: it often leads to conditional early relief (CER or parole), incentives and gratitude."

For Zhuravel, this is better than facing Muslims in colony, who may have questions to him, Mr Golenko has concluded.

A member of the Moscow Public Oversight Commission (POC) has expressed a similar opinion. According to his story, at SIZO, people are under surveillance 24 hours a day, while in a colony life is different and often defined by prisoners' informally built connections and hierarchy; and in the colony inmates are often humiliated.

In his turn, Oyub Titiev, a Chechen rights defender, has stated that at the SIZO the custody regime is stricter than in colony.