Tearful mothers of detainees have been camping for five days outside Lgov prison in southwest Russia where hundreds of prisoners have mutilated themselves and begun a hunger strike to protest against abuses.
Some 150 relatives and friends of the inmates have refused to leave the prison's surroundings and are spending the night in cars or tents on a street leading to the detention center, now surrounded by police.
Last Saturday night, more than 200 inmates slashed themselves with razor blades, and the self-mutilations continued the following day.
The number of injured on Friday had reached 437, according to a hospital registry consulted by Valery Borshchev, a human rights defender and ministry of justice expert.
Some 800 prisoners, or around half the population of the prison, are on a hunger strike, and 500 of them are already unable to stand, Boris Panteleyev, a representative from the For Human Rights association, said.
On Thursday evening, some 40 relatives of the detainees joined the hunger strike, according to For Human Rights.
"My son is 18, he was just transferred here from a minors' prison," at tearful Tatiana Nikitina, 39, told reporters. "I saw him the day before yesterday at a visit. They brought him to me, he could not stand up, he had to be supported. He could hardly breathe. His arms were bandaged up, he showed me his injuries."
"He said, `Mom, help us, they're humiliating us, we cut ourselves and we're on hunger strike.' I cried and said, `You should get out on July 22, just wait a bit, don't do anything stupid. He said `five people wanted to rape me, I cut my veins,'" she said.
Nikitina was informed by the director of the prison Yury Bushin that her son had been placed in an isolation cell. "And he told me: `We're going to kill your son.'"
Valentina Lamina, 50, was also waiting outside the prison anxiously in the heat.
"My son is 22, they beat him in prison from time to time," Lamina said. "I saw him on June 2, he was complaining. And yesterday too. His arms were bandaged up."
"He told me they wanted him to put on a red arm-band and betray his friends." The arm-band is worn by prisoners who collaborate with the prison guards.
"He said, `Kill me, my mother will pick up my corpse but I won't be a traitor. They beat me in front of the head of the prison until I lost consciousness.'"
The prisoners who do not want to collaborate are threatened with rape by prison staff, especially when they are young, Panteleyev said.
"Mom, we haven't eaten for three days, we haven't drank anything, except for those who are badly injured. We'll be on hunger strike until they sack the heads of the prison," Lamina's son told his mother.
The detainees' relatives are demanding the resignation of Bushin and his deputies Vitkor Reutov and Vladislav Dvoenosov. They accuse all three of participating directly in the abuses.
The prosecutor's office in Kursk region has charged Bushin's two deputies with abuse of power, according to the Russian prosecutor general's office but the head of the regional penitentiary service, Viktor Fedichev, told the relatives that no one would be sacked.
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
RSS