Believer from Astrakhan complains about cruel treatment in penal colony

In the Stavropol penal colony, convicted Jehovah’s Witness* Anna Safronova from Astrakhan is being sent to a punishment cell for long terms and forced to stand on her feet during 10-13 hours.

Anna Safronova was arrested in June 2021 after a search of her house. Investigators accused the believer of participating in online religious meetings with songs and prayers “in the pursuit of criminal intent.” The six-year term of imprisonment for Anna Safronova is the harshest sentence for a woman practicing the Jehovah’s Witnesses* religion in Russia as of February 2023.

On March 27, Anna Safronova was once again sent to a punishment cell on a trumped-up charge, this time for 20 days. The maximum term of detention in a punishment cell for a violation is 15 days. However, prisoners are kept in a punishment cell longer if they have been assigned several penalties, notes the “OVD-Info”** human rights project.

Shortly before being sent to the punishment cell, 59-year-old Anna Safronova, who suffered from leg pain, was subjected to cruel treatment: on March 22, she was forced to stand on her feet during ten hours in a stuffy room with no windows or furniture. The internal regulations of the penal colony prohibit sitting on the floor, and a penalty for violating those rules deprives a convicted person of the right to conditional early relief (CER) and threatens to tighten the conditions of detention.

Anna Safronova’s legs were swollen and bruised, but on the other day, the convict was again forced to stand on her feet for 13 hours straight, during which time she was only taken to a toilet once. The believer felt ill, but was not allowed to consult a medical officer.

The pressure on the believer increased after she refused to wear a St. George ribbon in April 2024, as required by the prison staff, notes a resource that tracks cases of persecution of believers in Russia.

*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.