Warders of Chelyabinsk colony suspended from duties after Sultan Israilov's death

The Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) has launched an investigation into the criminal case on abuse of power with violence resulting in the death in the Chelyabinsk penal colony of Sultan Israilov, a sentenced native of Chechnya.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 21, 2015, 39-year-old Sultan Israilov was placed in a punishment cell in the Chelyabinsk penal colony No. 2, and after that he was found dead. According to the official version, he committed suicide. However, his family members and human rights defenders doubt this version. In January, the human rights defenders declared that relatives of prisoners Anzor Mamaev and Nikolai Voloshin, who testified in the case of the Sultan Israilov's death, could not reveal their whereabouts.

According to Valeria Prikhodkina, a member of the Public Oversight Commission (POC) of the Chelyabinsk Region, warders of the penal colony suspected of beating Sultan Israilov have been suspended from duties.

"They have not appeared at the penal colony for more than two weeks. Yesterday, on January 12, they went to work, which caused a conflict between warders and prisoners, and as a result, 10 people were placed in a punishment cell," Valeria Prikhodkina has said.

She has also reported that till present, the whereabouts of prisoner Anzor Mamaev is unknown. According to Valeria Prikhodkina, Nikolai Voloshin has been released on conditional early relief and is now at home.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.