The prescription of psychotropic medication to Nagavkin has worried his family.

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Volgograd human rights activist Igor Nagavkin is being given psychotropic medication in solitary confinement, which has raised concerns among his family. A psychotherapist called the drug Nagavkin is being given safe.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," on June 26, 2024, a court in the Volgograd region found Igor Nagavkin guilty of disrupting the work of a pre-trial detention facility and sentenced him to two years of probation. The human rights activist stated that he intends to seek recognition of his innocence. On July 29, 2024, Nagavkin appealed the verdict in the case of disrupting the work of a pre-trial detention facility. The Volgograd Regional Court overturned the Leninsky District Court's verdict and sentenced him to two years in a penal colony. On April 4, Nagavkin's lawyer filed a complaint with the Supreme Court of Russia.

Human rights activist Igor Nagavkin, serving a two-year sentence in a general regime penal colony in Kamyshin, informed his relatives in a letter that he had been placed in solitary confinement for 15 days since May 4. He did not disclose the reason for his punishment in the letter. He also informed his family that he was being given a medication in solitary confinement, which had worried his sister, Natalya Shishlina.

"We're afraid they're pumping him full of psychotropic drugs there (she named the medication). "They want to make me crazy," Natalya Shishlina told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. A psychotherapist, speaking on condition of anonymity, shared his opinion on the aforementioned medication with a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. He noted that the therapist has legal and medical grounds for prescribing it. In addition to mental disorders, it is also prescribed for certain medical conditions, such as neuralgia, pain syndrome, or epilepsy. "The medication is not included in the list of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances subject to strict quantitative accounting, but is a prescription drug. In the colony, any circulation of medications is strictly regulated by an internal order of the medical unit. If the prescription was given without explanation, the patient has the right to clarify with the doctor the specific indication (from the approved instructions for the drug) for which this medication was prescribed," the doctor explained.

The expert pointed out that this drug does not cause altered consciousness. Side effects such as lethargy and drowsiness are possible. "It (the drug) is primarily used to treat pain due to inflammation of the trigeminal nerve. This is prescribed by neurologists. They also prescribe this drug for the treatment of epilepsy. The drug is multifunctional. It is also used in psychiatry to reduce mood swings when mood swings become more frequent. In general, it cannot be used for any punitive purposes," the specialist reassured Igor's relatives.

In his letter to his relatives, Nagavkin does not express any complaints and does not state the reason for his placement in solitary confinement. He asks them to contact lawyer Valery Shukhardin regarding filing complaints with the Supreme Court. "I want him (Shukhardin) to send me the Supreme Court decision. "I want to file an appeal for a mitigation of my sentence due to illness (I cited my illness) and for provocation of a crime under paragraph 3, Part 1, Article 61 of the Russian Criminal Code (circumstances mitigating punishment). And also tell him that I asked for a sample complaint to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation... I don't need a lawyer here yet," Igor wrote in his letter.

"Sometimes solitary confinement is useful. I managed to write all the appeals in silence," he concluded his letter.

"The reason for my client's placement in solitary confinement is unknown to me. "As for the Supreme Court, everything remains unchanged for now," Nagavkin's lawyer, Valery Shukhardin, briefly told a correspondent.