December 14, lawyer of Sergei Mokhnatkin Sergei Andropov told «7x7» about the conflicts of his client with prison officers of FPS-2 Russia in the Arkhangelsk region.
According to the lawyer, on November 28, Sergei Mokhnatkin had a verbal altercation with a staff member of the detention facility because the human rights activist demanded to introduce himself, and said about the illegality of the requirements. Skirmish turned into a physical force. Now this fact is being checked, results of forensic examinations will be ready on 28 December.
Sergei Andropov added that he did not take on assessing the legality of the use of force against the defendant, because he did not see the point in it:
'The staff of the detention facility must not apply force to the prisoner, regardless of whether he offends them or not. But in general, the use of force, not to mention the rule of law, is extremely difficult to prove, if not impossible.
Besides, lawyer told about complaints of Mokhnatkin on back pain: during "coercive measures" for allegedly "disorganization of work of the correctional institution" in March, 2016 they allegedly damaged his spine. Then, according to investigators, Sergei Mokhnatkin refused escorting to prison and resisted the actions of the Federal Penitentiary Service officers. A lawyer from hearsay of Mokhnatkin argues that human rights does not take any violent action on principle, so during described episode he laid back in the corner of the cell and clasped his hands behind his head.
'Sergey Yevgenyevich has an active civil position, he used to defend his rights and rights of other citizens. He insists on observing his rights in detention. As a result, conflicts arise because, as you know, there is something wrong with human rights in the Russian penitentiary system. It includes a range of issues, ranging from food and basic living conditions and ending with the sending of correspondence. He has a lot of complaints about the conditions of detention, in addition to violence,' the lawyer added.
Sergey Mokhnatkin is sentenced to four years and six months in prison for beating two policemen during a protest action of December 31, 2013 at Triumfalnaya Square in Moscow. He took part as a special correspondent of the newspaper "For Human Rights". April 3, 2015 the Moscow City Court upheld the verdict of the oppositioner.
FPS in the Arkhangelsk region transferred Sergey Mohnatkin to the detention facility because of the trial of insulting the chief of the colony, where the human rights activist was serving a sentence.
Currently Mokhnatkin is 62 years, he is the winner of the international prize of the Moscow Helsinki Group "for their courage in defending human rights".
In 2012, Sergei Mokhnatkin was the only political prisoner who did not admit his guilt, but was pardoned by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Daniil Kuznetsov, «7x7»
