Bailo's relatives state protraction of inquiry into cause of his death

A month after the death of Valery Bailo, a Jehovah's Witness*, at the SIZO (pre-trial prison), his body is in the morgue; its examination is not over; and the advocates and relatives have received not a single official response. Problems in investigating deaths in custody have become systemic, human rights defenders have indicated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 21, 2025, Valery Bailo, 67, died at the Novorossiysk SIZO. His relatives claimed that he complained of health problems, but he received no medical care. An advocate wrote an application asking for an inquiry into Bailo's death. A member of the Public Oversight Commission (POC) said that Bailo had complained of severe toothache.

According to Sergey Yanovsky, Valery’s advocate, the investigator assigned to review his application remains inaccessible.

Yuri Bailo, Valery’s son, has confirmed that within a month he has received not a single even interim response from the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF). "The worst thing is that my father's body is still in the morgue, he has not been buried," he said.

Mr Yanovsky has stressed that according to medical and legal standards, the body of the deceased can be kept in the morgue for a maximum of 14 days.

Svetlana Gannushkina**, the head of the “Civic Assistance” Committee**, has noted that the situation with Bailo is not a single case. According to her story, problems with medical care in jails are systemic. Prisoners get sick, die; and the state turns a blind eye to this.

Marina Melikhova, an activist, has noted that when she was in prison, several inmates tried to commit suicide. Three of them were saved, but one was not saved in time.

"Prisoners, especially the elderly and those with chronic diseases, often die not from diseases, but from the fact that they are not provided with the due care,” Elena Matrosova, an advocate, has stated.

*All the 396 Russian organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses were recognized as extremist, and their activities in Russia were banned by court decision.

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