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Russia’s federal prison authority finds no signs of torture against opposition activist

Russian opposition activist Ildar Dadin was sentenced to three years in a penal colony

© Dmitriy Serebriakov/TASS

MOSCOW, November 28. /TASS/. Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) has completed checks finding no confirmation of alleged torture against jailed opposition activist Ildar Dadin in a penal colony in Karelia, in northwestern Russia, a senior official at the federal prison authority said on Monday.

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

"The results of checks have found no confirmation of the facts of inadmissible methods of action against Dadin or illegal use of physical force against the convict resulting in damage to his health," said Valery Maximenko, who is deputy director of the FSIN. The checks also found no facts that other convicts were subjected to abuse. All the materials have been sent to investigators.

Maximenko said the checks were conducted by doctors at the FSIN, a commission of civilian doctors from a local hospital and doctors from a hospital in Petrozavodsk.

One of the leading Russian neurologists, specialized in epileptology, Professor Vasily Generalov said he found no hidden traumas which a doctor could see even if there are no bruises and after a long period of time," he added.

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The FSIN official thanked mass media representatives, human rights activists and bloggers who were not subjected to provocations and showed real interest in finding the truth about what happens in the penal colony.

They confirmed that "Ildar Dadin is just a very talented simulator with great artistry and great imagination," Maximenko added.

"I want to draw your attention that before this affair the FSIN has never been so open for all human rights activists and the society," he stressed. "The FSIN is not going to hide and conceal anything, it seeks to be absolutely transparent."

Dadin, 34, 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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