Russia’s Penitentiary Service to reveal where it transferred Dadin in two days’ time

Deputy head of Russia’s Penitentiary Service Valery Maksimenko has said the whereabouts of prisoner Dadin Ildar would be revealed after January 7. Maksimenko said this in a telephone conversation with Dadin’s wife Anastasia Zotova. Dadid was transferred out of a penal colony in Segezha over one month ago.

According Maksimenko, all of December, Dadin was being transported to a new penal colony. Immediately before New Year’s, he was allegedly taken off the train and put in a prison so that he might take a shower, eat soup, and otherwise celebrate the holiday in a comfortable environment. Maksimenko did not elaborate upon where exactly this detention center was situated. According to the official, Dadin was once more put on a train and is expected to arrive at the new penal colony in two days’ time.

Citing available data, human rights activist Lyubov Volkova wrote on her Facebook page that Dadin had already been taken to colony number 5 in Rubtsovsk in the Altai Republic. There has been no official confirmation of this information. Zotova wrote on her Facebook page that she contacted this colony and was told that information would be given out only in response to a written request.

Ildar Dadin was imprisoned for organizing one-man protests – the first to be punished under new amendments to Russia’s criminal code. In December 2015, he was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison.

On November 1, 2016, Meduza published a letter written by Ildar Dadin to his wife Anastasia Zotova. In the letter, Dadin reveals the torture that he is enduring at the hands of prison authorities at penal colony number 7 in the town of Segezha.

After an investigation, the Federal Penitentiary Service claimed that there were no signs of torture on Dadin’s body.

Dadin letter had a wide resonance. The prisoner met with Russia’s Human Rights Commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova. Dadin refused to be transferred to another colony, saying that he is responsible to the other prisoners.