SIZO bosses ignore seven-day hunger strike of human rights defender Nagavkin

The prosecutor's office and the court were notified by his sister about the hunger strike of human rights defender Igor Nagavkin, who has been rejecting food at the SIZO (pre-trial prison) of the city of Leninsk for a week already, although the law obliges SIZO bosses to report about detainees' refusal to take meals.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 19, at a court hearing of the case about disorganization of the work of the SIZO, Igor Nagavkin stated that he had been illegally kept in a solitary cell for more than 40 days. On March 11, it became known that he had been on a hunger strike for four days in protest against violations of the rights of those kept at the Leninsk SIZO.

Natalia Shishlina, Igor's sister, has noted that his health condition has worsened.

"His hunger strike is not a dry one (without drinking water); Igor has heart problems, so he cannot hold a dry hunger strike," she has explained, adding that neither SIZO bosses, nor the prosecutor's office gave any reaction to his hunger strike.

Valentin Bogdan, the executive director of the Defence Fund of Prisoners' Rights, has admitted that he does not approve of this protest method, because he treats it as inefficient.

"The hunger strike that Igor declared will bring nothing but deterioration of his health. The reaction (of the prosecutor's office) to it will come in three weeks. There is a more serious way of hunger strike, this is a dry hunger strike, but it must be approached very responsibly. In this case, the prosecutor must visit the hunger-striker on the second day (after the start thereof)," Valentin Bogdan has pointed out.

Besides, the hunger-striker must be examined by a doctor. If he concludes that the inmate's life is in danger, the hunger-striker may be force-fed.

"In this case, the protester is given a so-called 'stretch': he is handcuffed to a bed and food is forcibly administered through a tube. A very painful process," Mr Bogdan has added.