No Free Press in the Gulag

- My version of what happened is simple. Zubairayev - one of a thousand whom they are torturing in our jails, but one of only a few who decided not to keep silent about this, but to openly speak out in defense of his human dignity and right to protection from indignities and abuses. Therefore, they are torturing him with doubled force.

For GUFSIN it is a matter of principle - after Zubairayev's story was picked up by so many Russian and even foreign mass media - they had to prove that all this is supposedly untrue, to cleanse itself of these suspicions, to create a whitewash. Otherwise, this would threaten them not only with dismissal, but even criminal prosecution - if the facts are confirmed.

For them it is vitally important to whitewash themselves. That's why they filed the lawsuit. Here, in Volgograd, you've got a "one hand cleans the other" system - the FSIN, the procuracy, and the courts. Evidence of this are the numerous refusals to initiate a criminal investigation based on facts of violence against Zubairayev. If I'm not mistaken, there have been already 5 checks, but they ended with "the facts were not confirmed". Even though the facts are right there in front of you.

And this trial, without a doubt, was a contract operation. The "arguments" of the prosecutors were falling apart right before everybody's eyes. For example, they promised to present a video recording, supposedly bearing witness that Zubair is himself inflicting beatings on himself. We looked in the trial at this recording, the only thing visible there was how Zubair is holding his head - in my impression, suffering from strong pain - and then falls under the table, where, I will note, he lies during the course of an hour, while the recording lasts, and nobody comes up to him, and then a person in a uniform comes and kicks him with the foot, attempting to force him to get up. It's exactly the same with the recording of his supposed attempt at suicide. Zubair himself appears on this film only for several seconds, and subsequently the entire recording goes without his participation.

Naturally, these arguments did not convince anybody of those present of anything, but the judge, obviously, had another opinion. What elicited it - one can only guess. Bearing witness to the non-objectivity of the court is also the fact that despite the many written petitions of our side about summoning Zubairayev himself to court as a witness, we were denied in this.

2. What other evidence is there of the torturing of Zubairayev besides video?

- There are photographs, in which the traces of torture are visible. The FSIN is attempting to declare these photographs as forgeries. There are numerous testimonies of eyewitnesses - of the sisters, of the wife of Zubairayev, of his lawyers, of human rights advocates, who saw him after he had been beaten up, . There is the report of doctor from Germany Alikhan Soltakhanov to president of the International Fund "Good without borders" Imrat Ezheyev, where he describes his condition in detail and in medical terms.

3. In Izvestiya they're writing that you are the author of numerous articles on the theme of rights protection. Did you write previously about torture in places of deprivation of liberty? If yes, then were there claims against you on the part of GUFSIN previously?

- Yes, I wrote. As a journalist, I researched the theme "Situation of the Chechens in Russian jails". I wrote about Zaurbek Talkhigov, whom they brought in jail to a heavy affliction of the liver and continue to hold for a contrived violation in an icy dungeon - from December through the present moment. About Islam Taipov, on whom in Tomsk they set guard dogs. About other instances of beatings and torture of Chechens in jails. I always brought attention to the fact that, as a rule, these instances of torments take place because of nationality, that is, what is taking place is discrimination of inmates of certain nationalities (first and foremost the Chechen one) in jails.

The incident when GUFSIN decided to file suit - the first. Until this, they preferred to make believe that they don't notice articles on this topic, and in response of addresses to official instances they sent run-arounds. In an extreme case - they attempted to threaten me by email and on Internet-forums. But they did not decide on open confrontation, moreover, to the best of my knowledge, with other journalists reporting on this story as well.

4. Has an appeal been filed against this decision from the Kirov Civic Court?

- On Monday we - likewise my public defender Vladimir Shakleyin - will receive the decision of the court in hand. Naturally, we intend to appeal it during the course of 10 days in the cassational instance - in the Oblast Court of Volgograd, and so forth, right on up to Strasbourg.

5. Who determined the sum of the moral compensation at 200,000 rubles - GUFSIN or the court? Were there such precedents in Volgograd before (towards journalists and for such a sum?)

- 200,000 - this is the decision of the court. GUFSIN at first asked for 5, after a certain time the demands were changed to 500 thousand. Such precedents in Volgograd are unknown to me, to the best of my knowledge, there haven't been any.

6. I have formed the opinion that only human rights advocates report on stories of torture in the jails of the RF, but the topic is avoided by most journalists at well known media outlets. Am I mistaken?

- I don't think so - that same Anna Politkovskaya of illustrious memory wrote about it more than a few times, and yet from she was a professional journalist. And you could no doubt find other examples. It is another matter that, unfortunately, many journalists are afraid to take on such a story. With the article about Zubairayev, I went to a series of local publications, but everywhere they refused to take it, having said that they fear possible lawsuits for slander towards the editorial board of the newspapers. I think that these publications do not recommend to their staff journalists to take on such "fraught" stories either. It's easier and less dangerous, after all, to write about a dance contest or the visit of the latest pop-star. And that's why it happens that the them of abuses against inmates remains in the main to the human rights advocates, who, as you correctly noted, are usually non-professionals in journalistics. But somebody's got to write about this, after all.

7. Yelena, tell readers of our blog a bit about yourself: where did you study, work, why did yo start to write on the theme of rights protection and so forth.

- I am a teacher of physics by education, but I never worked in my specialty. My principal place of work - the editorial board of the academy for the elevation of qualification of workers of education. I also do not have a journalistic education, only recently did I receive the certificate of a correspondent of the newspaper "Svobodnoe slovo" [Free Word], and otherwise engage in this, so to speak, on a volunteer basis. Why do I engage? Well, how can one be silent when they're abusing people, beating them to death in jails? I felt that I can not live in peace when such things are taking place next to me, and do nothing whatsoever to hinder this.