Nagavkin accuses penal colony’s deputy head of insulting him

Human rights defender Igor Nagavkin has filed an appeal to the supervisory authorities with a request to assess the insults he was subjected to by the deputy head of the penal colony-settlement.

Natalia Shishlina, a sister of human rights defender Igor Nagavkin, gave a “Caucasian Knot” correspondent the copies of the letters she received from her brother from the penal colony-settlement in the city of Uryupinsk.

Igor Nagavkin wrote complaints to V.A. Kuznetsov, the Volgograd prosecutor for supervision of penitentiary institutions, and Sergey Konovalov, the head of the regional Federal Penitentiary Service (known as FSIN) Department. Igor Nagavkin asked the supervisory authorities to organize an investigation with regard to N.S.Kharitonov, the deputy head of the FKU LIU-23 federal penitentiary institution. According to the Igor Nagavkin’s complaint, on May 24, while Igor Nagavkin was handing over bedding for the placement to the ShIZO (punishment cell) of the penal colony-settlement, “while performing his official duties,” N.S.Kharitonov, “being aware of the illegal nature and unlawfulness of his actions and wanting them to happen, insulted Igor Nagavkin, calling him ‘crazy’ in public, in the presence of other penal colony employees.”

This is unacceptable for FSIN employee, since he took oath

“This is unacceptable for the employee of the Federal Penitentiary Service, since he took an oath. By humiliating my honour and dignity, he violates my rights while I am serving my sentence,” Igor Nagavkin complained.

He asked the Volgograd prosecutor for supervision of penitentiary institutions and the head of the regional FSIN Department to request and to study the video recordings from the “Dozor” video recorder of a duty officer of penal colony-settlement and a duty officer of the ShIZO (punishment cell) “in full” and to give a legal assessment of behaviour and actions of the penal colony-settlement’s deputy head, checking them for compliance with the position he occupied.

The internal regulations of penitentiary institutions require that video recordings from CCTV cameras must be stored for 30 days. Igor Nagavkin noted that a day later, during the morning rounds, N.S.Kharitonov explained to him that the word “crazy” is not an insult. Penal colony-settlement’s deputy head of educational activities Dotsenko told the complainant the same. “From their point of view, this is normal communication and treatment of people. That is, according to their logic and conclusion, I may address the employees as ‘citizen crazy.’ I am passing on my appeal through a letter from my relatives, since I am afraid that other correspondence will not reach the addressee,” Igor Nagavkin concluded.

Valentin Bogdan, an advocate of human rights defender Igor Nagavkin, acknowledged the “closed” nature of the FSIN system and the lack of response from the supervisory authorities to prisoners’ complaints.

“The problem is urgent. We are not allowed to visit Igor. They do not want to air dirty linen in public. The district court refused protection, although I have all the rights to visit my client,” the advocate told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

I have filed a complaint to General Prosecutor’s Office about the case

Valentin Bogdan called Igor Nagavkin’s insult outrageous and illegal. At the same time, the defender referred to the requirements of the Criminal Executive Code of the Russian Federation and the internal regulations of penitentiary institutions. “They feel their impunity, since the (district) court followed their lead, and the prosecutor’s office does not respond to our complaints,” advocate Valentin Bogdan claimed.

The defender has also mentioned that one of the next trials in the Igor Nagavkin’s case will take place on June 26: the court is to consider the case on the regime change “on the merits”.

Natalia Shishlina, a sister of Igor Nagavkin, told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent that she is still not allowed to visit her brother. Natalia Shishlina receives letters from him.

She has noted that her brother does not complain about the conditions of detention or his health state. The woman has not received any responses to the appeals that she sent to the Prosecutor’s Office and the Federal Penitentiary Service. On May 23, Ombudsperson V.A. Rostovschikov notified her that he had received her application and that an investigation would be conducted into it.

This was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 31, 2025 at 01:50 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.