Lawyer Yakov Iontsev and human rights activist Sergei Sharov-Delone was not allowed to meet prisoner of the Bolotnoe case Ivan Nepomnyashchikh and his cellmates, complaining about violence in the Yaroslavl colony. According to press service of the Fund "Public Verdict", administration of the Yaroslavl penal colony answered that the letters of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) were not certified.
Human rights activists waited for the decision of the prison authorities for about three hours. They provided documents that the ECHR ordered Russia to open lawyers' access to Ruslan Vakhapov, Evgeny Makarov and Ivan Nepomnyashchikh. The administration of the colony did not explain, whose reassurance was required. According to the European Court, complaint of the Yaroslavl prisoners was given a priority status, and the Russian government knew about it.
Lawyers of the "Public Verdict" stated that "the incident was a direct violation of the urgent measures prescribed by the ECHR" and that "the actions of the administration made us assume that the applicants were still in danger, since there was no way to make sure that the prisoners were all right". Human rights defenders are sure that administration of penal colony knew about the decision of the ECHR and could confirm its documents in the Office of the Representative of Russia under the ECHR.
Human rights activists learned that Yaroslavl investigators started checking on reports of violence against prisoners by members of the penal colony No. 1.
According to Ivan Nepomnyashchikh and his cellmates, they were beaten by the staff of the colony in masks on April 21. Human rights activists of the "Public Verdict" confirmed their words on April 24 and asked the ECHR to take urgent measures in relation to their clients. After reporting torture, prisoners were sent to the punishment cell.
On December 22, 2015 Ivan Nepomnyashchikh was sentenced to 2.5 years of the so-called "Bolotnoe delo" for participating in clashes with the police and recognized by human rights organizations as "a prisoner of conscience".
Daniil Kuznetsov, «7x7»
