Afanasyev could be in punitive confinement, no connection with him – lawyer

Ukrainian citizen Gennady Afanasyev, who is serving sentence in the IK-25 penal colony in Syktyvkar, could already be held in the punitive confinement.

There is no connection with him, his lawyer Alexander Popkov said in a commentary to Radio Liberty.

“He [Afanasyev] has constant problems in the colony, he is harassed. Four penalties on him were announced, and he supposed he would be imposed two more. When Ernest Mezak, the member of the public monitoring committee of the Republic of Komi, got to the materials with penalties, he found out that there were ten penalties… However, Afanasyev was not informed about them. It is done deliberately to tighten the conditions of his detention,” the lawyer said.

As suggested by the lawyer, Afanasyev could be transferred to the punitive confinement for allegedly found banned SIM card in his stuff.

The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine stated that Afanasyev was continuously subject to torture, inhuman treatment, and his rights in detention were constantly violated.

“The strengthened pressure of the Russian authorities on Gennady Afanasyev was confirmed by detention on February 3, 2016 of Russian lawyer Ernest Mezak, who protects the interests of the illegally detained Ukrainian citizen to restore his rights violated in the colony,” reads the statement.

As reported, February 3, the special task force officers of the Russian Federal Service for the Execution of Sentences searched the ward of Ukrainian citizen Gennady Afanasyev and seized all the documents. In addition, a SIM card was allegedly found in the jacket of Afanasyev.

On the same day, human rights defender Ernest Mezak, who monitors the detention conditions of Afanasyev, was detained in Syktyvkar.