Akhmed Balkarov's mother learned of his removal from the penal colony.
Akhmed Balkarov, a native of Kabardino-Balkaria, who was planned to be sent to a psychiatric hospital more than 1,000 kilometers away by the prison administration in the Penza region, has "dropped out," the facility's administration told his mother.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot," Akhmed Balkarov is subjected to religious harassment in the prison and has been repeatedly subjected to penalties, which is why he rarely stays in the residential unit. His mother fears for her son's health, who is slated to be sent to a psychiatric hospital more than 1,000 kilometers away despite having no diagnosed problems. The Kabardino-Balkaria Human Rights Center appealed to the Prosecutor General of Russia in connection with numerous violations of Balkarov's rights.
On May 31, 2017, the North Caucasus District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced the defendants in the Kabardino-Balkaria caliphate case to lengthy prison terms. Oleg Miskhozhev, Akhmed Balkarov, Islam Shogenov, Ruslan Kipshiev, Kantemir Zheldashev, Artur Karov, Zaur Tekuzhev, and Ruslan Zhugov received six to 16 years in prison. Akhmed Balkarov was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The Russian Supreme Court upheld the sentence of natives of Kabardino-Balkaria convicted of attempting to establish a caliphate under Sharia law in the republic.
Claims of Akhmed Balkarov's alleged "mental illness" are untrue and are being used to pressure the prisoner, according to his mother, Irina Balkarova. According to her, Akhmed has already been removed from the prison colony in the Penza region, and his current whereabouts are unknown.
"My son has no confirmed mental illnesses. I have no documents to prove it. There was no trial, nothing. He was secretly taken out of the penal colony overnight, and that's it. They haven't even bothered to inform me yet. I called the penal colony, asking for a visit, and they said, 'He's been released.' I asked, 'Where to?' and they replied, 'We don't give out that kind of information.' But when they needed his work record book or his diploma, they called me three or four times a day," Balkarova told the "Caucasian Knot."
A lawyer hired by his mother visited the penal colony and was also unable to obtain any documents—he only verbally relayed to Balkarova what he heard from the FSIN officers.
Irina Balkarova wants the Prosecutor General's Office and other authorized bodies to pay attention to the violation of her son's rights, who, in her opinion, has already been unfairly convicted.
“I need to get through to the Prosecutor General's Office. I need the president to know about this, although I wrote to the president too, and nothing happened. Let them see how they've been torturing him for so many years,” Balkarova lamented.
Zaur Shogenov, a representative of the Kabardino-Balkaria Human Rights Center, told the Caucasian Knot that Balkarova visited the human rights defenders' office and that appeals were sent to various authorities based on her complaint.
“Requests were sent to the Prosecutor General's Office, as well as to the Federal Penitentiary Service, the Human Rights Commissioner, and the head of the republic. In addition, the regional human rights commissioners in the Yaroslavl region "We have not yet received any answers to where he was being transported, so that they could visit the prisoner, as well as to the chairman of the Public Monitoring Commission. We will use our local channels to find human rights defenders, lawyers, and attorneys who can somehow assist with this matter," he said.
During the transfer, the prisoner's relatives or lawyers are not informed of the prisoner's route, and the transfer itself can last indefinitely—"from several hours to several months," lawyers previously told the "Caucasian Knot." The law also does not guarantee the prisoner the right to contact relatives and a lawyer during the transfer.