Ildar Dadin, political prisoner, reveals Stalin-style tortures in a penal colony.

Ildar Dadin was sentenced earlier this year to 2.5 years in prison for repeatedly taking part in solitary pickets. He was convicted under Article 212.1 of Russia’s Criminal Code. The article punishes those who “repeatedly violate the established order by organising or holding meetings [or] rallies”.

In a letter to his wife, Anastasia Zotova, Dadin spoke out about the inhuman conditions in which he is being held at penal colony No.7 in the town of Segezha (north-western Russia).

Dadin revealed that the administrative head of the colony, Sergey Kossiev, together with 10 to 12 people, beat him several times in one day and lowered his head into a toilet. All of this treatment happened immediately after Dadin went on a hunger strike in protest against all of his belongings having been confiscated from him upon his arrival.

He writes that the next day he was handcuffed behind his back, and then hanged up by his cuffed arms for an hour, which brought him pain that he described as “horrible.” It was after this that Dadin was threatened with being raped unless he gave up his hunger strike.

Regular beatings, bullying, humiliation, insults, intolerable detention conditions are common in the aforementioned penal colony, the same colony where Mikhail Khodorkovsky was also held.

Speaking to the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, an unnamed source from the Russian Penitentiary Service has confirmed the use of force against Ildar Dadin.

“When I get out, we will change the country for the better”

Ildar Dadin is a political activist from Moscow. He frequently attended anti-government street protests and was repeatedly detained by the police.

Most times he would be sentenced to fines or several days in detention — until in 2014 a new law was introduced in Russia that penalises unauthorised public assemblies with a five-year prison term if a transgressor commits three administrative offenses within a period of six months.

A solitary violation of the law, for example, peacefully gathering without the authorities’ express prior permission, is punishable by a fine or up to 15 days’ administrative detention. Three such violations result in a criminal offence punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment.

Ildar Dadin turned out to be the first victim of this newly adopted legislation.

Several human rights organisations have described Dadin as a political prisoner and a prisoner of conscience.

“This sentence is a particularly cynical infringement of the rights and freedoms of citizens, an insult to the very idea of justice, even against the background of the other politically-motivated and, in our opinion, illegal sentences.”
Memorial Human Rights Center

“In a blatant violation of the right to peaceful assembly, Ildar Dadin is the first activist to be handed down a heavy sentence under the new anti-protest legislation.”
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

“The shocking sentencing of Ildar Dadin shows that the Russian authorities are using the law on public assemblies to fast-track peaceful protesters to prison.”
John Dalhuisen, Europe and Central Asia Director at Amnesty International.

Ildar Dadin’s letter to his wife

Nastya! If you decide to publish this information about what is happening to me, then try to distribute it as widely as possible. This will increase my chances of staying alive.

Know that there is an entire mafia operating at penal colony 7. It involves the entire administration, among them the colony’s head Major Sergey Leonidovich Kossiev and the vast majority of its employees, including the doctors.

Upon my arrival at the colony on 10 September, I had practically all of my things taken away from me. Two razor blades were then planted [amongst my remaining possessions] and subsequently “discovered” during an inspection. This is a common practice here – it gives them grounds to throw all newcomers into solitary confinement, to ensure they immediately understand the hell that they found themselves in.

I was put into solitary without any official orders. All of my things were taken away, including soap, my toothbrush, toothpaste, and even toilet paper. In protest of these illegal activities, I went on a hunger strike.

On 11 September, the colony head Kossiev came to me with three employees. Together, they started beating me. Over the course of that day, I was beaten a total four times, by 10-12 people at once. They would kick me. After the third beating, they lowered my head into a toilet right there in the holding cell.

On 12 September, [several] employees cuffed my hands behind my back and hung me up. Being suspended in this manner brought about terrible pain in the wrists, twisted out my elbows, and caused horrible back pain. I was suspended like that for half an hour. Then they took off my underwear and said they would bring another prisoner to rape me unless I stopped my hunger strike.

I ask you to publish this letter because there is a information blockade and I see no other way to break through it

After that, I was brought to Kossiev’s office, where he said to me in the presence of other staff: “You have been beaten very little. If I give the order, you will be beaten much worse. If you try to complain, they will kill you and bury you under the fence.” After that, they beat me regularly, several times a day. Regular beatings, bullying, humiliation, insults, intolerable detention conditions – this is happening with the other prisoners, as well.

All subsequent punishments were based on blatant lies. All of the videos in which I was [filmed] being “penalised” were staged: before filming, they would tell me how to behave and what to do – not to argue, not to protest, to look at the floor.

Otherwise, they said, they would kill [me] and no one would know about it, because no one knows where I am. I cannot send letters without going through the administration first, and the administration has promised to kill me if I write any complaints.

Nastya, I ask you to publish this letter because there is a real “information blockade” in this place and I see no other opportunities to break through it. I am not asking you to get me out of here or to have me transferred to another facility. I have repeatedly seen and heard how other prisoners are being beaten, so my conscience will not allow me to run away from here. I am going to fight to help others. I am not afraid of death. Most of all, I am afraid not being able to withstand the torture and surrendering.

If the Committee Against Torture has not yet been destroyed in Russia, I ask for their assistance in ensuring my right to life and security and those of other prisoners in Russia. I ask to you to openly reveal that Major Kossiev has directly threatened to murder me for any attempt to complain about what is happening. I will be glad if you find an attorney who will be able to reside in Segezha [near the colony] and provide legal support.

Time is against me. Surveillance footage would be able to prove [that such] torture and beatings [are happening], but it is becoming less and less likely that such footage remains intact. If I am again subjected to torture, beatings and rape, it is unlikely that I will last more than a week.

In case of my sudden death, you may be told that I committed suicide, had an accident, was shot while trying to escape, or [died] fighting with another prisoner, but this would be a lie. [My murder] would have been planned in advance to eliminate witnesses and victims of torture.

I love you and I hope to see you someday. Your Ildar.

Transcribed by Dadin’s lawyer, Alexei Plutser, and translated from Russian by Meduza.io