Convict in the Hizb ut-Tahrir* case complains about conditions in Novocherkassk SIZO

The administration of the Novocherkassk colony refuses to satisfy requests for medical examination; and there is no water in the cell, and rats are running around it, Rustem Sheikhaliev, convicted for taking part in the Hizb ut-Tahrir*, has complained.

According to Lily Gemedzhi, an advocate, Sheikhaliev asks to have an electrocardiogram done because he suspects he has heart insufficiency, but the administration of the SIZO (pre-trial prison) gives no reaction to his requests, the "OVD Info"** project has reported.

Sheikhaliev has also complained about poor custody conditions at the SIZO. According to his story, there has been no water in his cell for several days, and rats were running around the cell. The inmates sleep in turns and make sure that rats don't bite people, the "Crimean Solidarity" public organization has noted.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Ruslan Suleimanov, a convict for taking part in the Hizb ut-Tahrir*, had complained that doctors in the Novocherkassk colony failed to provide him with medicines. Suleimanov has a congenital heart defect, his advocate has explained.

*An international pan-Islamist and fundamentalist political organization whose stated aim is the re-establishment of the Islamic caliphate. In 2003, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized "Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami" as a terrorist organization and banned its activities.

**Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.