Official makes his apology to NGO leader

This spring, the department for penalty execution of the Republic of Adygeya seized forbidden articles of convicts in Adyg penitentiary establishments, in particular in the Tlyustenkhabl high security prison.

The Krasnodar human rights organization Mothers in Defense of Rights of Arrested Persons, Persons Under Investigation, and Convicts led by Tatyana Rudakova staged protest actions in view of it. It staged pickets at the entry to the prison in the village of Tlyustenkhabl on May 5 and on Lenin Square in the capital of Adygeya on May 11. Activists of this organization asserted that rights of the convicts were violated during the seizure of forbidden articles.

There was a media discussion in Adygeya and Krasnodar Region at that time, in which Tatyana Rudakova was called a woman who had been in prison twice.

The head of the Adyg department for penalty execution, Aliy Samogov, has made excuses and explained that this information was received from his colleagues in Krasnodar Region. But the matter concerned another woman who had been in prison. Her data agreed with the data of the NGO leader almost completely. Mr Samogov also reported that over 600 cases of people held in the Tlyustenkhabl prison were reviewed with the purpose of commutation.

Editors note: See also the article "Human rights activists accused of protecting criminal structure's interests".