Rights defender Nagavkin demands compensation for custody conditions at Leninsk SIZO

In his lawsuit, Igor Nagavkin, a human rights defender, has claimed to be paid 900,000 roubles for being kept in unsanitary conditions at the SIZO (pre-trial prison). Authorities are obliged to keep detainees in accordance with sanitary requirements, a lawyer and a human rights defender have confirmed.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Igor Nagavkin had been on an indefinite hunger strike since March 7 in protest against violations of the rights of those kept at the Leninsk SIZO. On March 24, 2024, a SIZO official informed Nagavkin's sister that her brother had stopped his hunger strike.

In his lawsuit, Nagavkin told the court about his stay at the SIZO after April 18, 2023, the court sentenced him to six years of freedom deprivation. According to his story, there were rats running around there; no access to fresh air, which is a violation.

Sergey Ivaschenko, a lawyer, has confirmed Nagavkin's right to compensation for the custody conditions at the SIZO. However, he believes that in this case, the guilty persons will limit themselves to disciplinary sanctions. In court, they "will easily be able to prove that the terrible conditions at the SIZO were caused by a deficit of funding."

Applicants usually win lawsuits demanding compensation for poor custody conditions; but there is no reason to expect large payments, Valentin Bogdan, the executive director of the fund "In Defence of Prisoners' Rights"*, has noted.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.