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Prison authorities source claims local doctors found no injuries examining jailed activist

An independent doctor recommended by human rights activists will be invited to examine jailed opposition activist Ildar Dadin who was reportedly tortured and abused in a penal colony

© Dmitriy Serebriakov/TASS

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MOSCOW, November 2. /TASS/. On Wednesday, doctors from the local Central District hospital of Segezh visited jailed opposition activist Ildar Dadin jailed in the Segezh colony in Karelia, northwestern Russia. According to a source in Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN), they found no signs of bodily injuries.

"Today a commission of independent doctors from the Central District hospital of Segezh examined the convict, Ildar Dadin," the source said. "The doctors came to the conclusion that Dadin’s condition was fair, neither signs of beating, nor signs of previous injuries were found on his body."

The commission consisted of a physician, a mental specialist and a traumatic surgeon.

"The independent commission concluded that convict Dadin did not need any medical treatment. However, he was taken to the City hospital of Petrozavodsk for an additional medical check-up," the source added.

Besides that, an independent doctor recommended by human rights activists, will be invited to examine Dadin.

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Independent medics to examine jailed Russian activist over torture allegations

The media earlier publicized Dadin’s letter in which he claimed to have been tortured in the Segezh colony. After that, Russian Human Rights Ombudsperson Tatiana Moskalkova requested the Federal Penitentiary Service authorities and the Prosecutor General’s office look into this case. The Karelia Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service and the regional Investigation Committee also initiated investigations.

Dadin is the first person in Russia sentenced for violation of Article 212.1 of the Criminal Code (repeated violations of the rules of public gatherings). In December 2015, Moscow’s Basmanny District Court found Dadin guilty on four counts of participating in unauthorized protests in Moscow.

Dadin was sentenced to three years in a penal colony but then the Moscow City Court reduced his jail term to two and a half years.

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