22:30, 26 February 2025

Human rights defender Nagavkin loses lawsuit on penalties imposed in colony

The Uryupinsk City Court has upheld the penalties imposed on Igor Nagavkin, a human rights defender, who is serving his term in a colony settlement. His defence treats the court ruling as biased and intends to appeal against it.

Nagavkin is serving a two-year sentence in a colony settlement in Uryupinsk on charges of disrupting the work of the SIZO (pre-trial prison). The colony bosses had applied to the court asking to change Igor’s punishment for a general regime colony. Since November 2024, Nagavkin has been kept in a dungeon (punishment cell). There, he went on a hunger strike, protesting against the imposed penalties he treats as illegal.

Valentin Bogdan, a human rights defender, believes that the judge's ruling to uphold the disciplinary sanctions imposed on Nagavkin was biased. He has suggested that now there would be a trial to declare Nagavkin as a "malicious violator" and send him to a general regime colony.

When at large, Nagavkin used to support prisoners and their relatives; he drew attention to torture and inmates’ deaths in prisons and colonies, and countered drug trafficking. He also worked on environmental safety issues – he opposed the development of a park and organized beach cleaning.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 26, 2025 at 09:54 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: СK correspondent