FSIN Department denies information on hunger strike of Vladimir Vasin, ex-Chairman of Committee for Youth Affairs of Volgograd Region

Vladimir Vasin, ex-Chairman of the Committee for Youth Affairs of the administration of the Volgograd Region, accused of embezzlement, is on a hunger strike since August 2. This was reported by his lawyer Georgy Mamaladze. The Department of the Federal Penitentiary Service (known as FSIN), denied the information.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Vladimir Vasin was detained on September 30, 2011, within the criminal investigation into the criminal case on embezzlement of budget funds under the guise of payment for vouchers for children's vacation at summer camps. No indictment was brought against him; however, searches and seizure of documents were carried out at his house and working places. In April, a pre-trial restriction measure home arrest was pronounced to him. On August 2, he was taken into custody in the courtroom, and on August 13, the Volgograd Regional Court upheld the decision.

On August 23, in the Central District Court of Volgograd, the court hearing in the case against Vladimir Vasin, ex-Chairman of the Youth Committee of the Volgograd Region, was not held because of deterioration of health of the defendant. According to the lawyer Georgy Mamaladze, Vladimir Vasin required medical care because of deterioration of his health due to his hunger strike, which was started on August 2.

On August 28, Irina Vasina posted a "political testament" of her husband in his personal blog in "Live Journal".

"A 'fabricated' criminal case was instituted against me for purely political reasons. I wrote about that in my open appeal to Bastrykin, which was also published in my blog. The answer came almost three months later from the very official, who instituted the criminal case against me," states the appeal of Vladimir Vasin.

Further, Vladimir Vasin writes that "having lost the chance to find justice, on August 2, on the day of the decision about my arrest, I went on a hunger strike." "According to the doctors, I have no more than two weeks to live," the author of the "testament" writes. He continues: "However, in my case, like in the case of my grandfather, my death of hunger is likely to help raising awareness of Bastrykin and Chaika, and they will check the criminal case, instituted against me, and then I will be able to get justice."

Vladimir Vasin has stressed that in the event of his death, he blames in it "M. K. Muzraev, Chief of the Investigatory Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) in the Volgograd Region, the main customer of my criminal case, instituted against me."

On September 5, Alexander Khinshtein, the deputy of the State Duma, filed a request to the Investigatory Committee and the General Prosecutor's Office about the case against Vladimir Vasin.

In his statement, the deputy Alexander Khinshtein notes that in early September, he received in his name the appeal from Irina Vasina, the wife of Vladimir Vasin, according to whom, "the criminal prosecution was caused by the social activities of her husband, related to criticizing the actions of staff members of the Investigatory Department of the ICRF in the Volgograd Region; the materials of the case were fabricated, and in the course of the investigation, there were numerous violations of the Criminal and Procedural Code of the Russian Federation."

Vladimir Vasin was transferred from SIZO (pre-trial prison) to LIU-15 (Medical Penitentiary Institution) because his gastritis had escalated. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Tatiana Podskrebalina, Press Secretary of the FSIN Department in the Volgograd Region.

"At present, he has no complaints. He eats normally, and he has even recovered two kilograms," she has noted.

Georgy Mamaladze, the lawyer of Vladimir Vasin, has confirmed to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that Vladimir Vasin is on the hunger strike since August 2.