Members of the Public Monitoring Commission on Human Rights in Detention Facilities (PMC) met Igor Shishkin in pre-trial detention center (SIZO) on 27 January after the trial. He was asking permission from the SIZO staff for every of his actions and also asking the commission members not to do anything that could cause frustration of the staff. Shishkin was in a sweater with long sleeves, so the PMC members could only see his face and hands.
In the middle of the left hand there was a burn, on the cheek were scratches and abrasion, there were visible traces of handcuffs on both hands and a split of lower lip. Around the left eye, he had a large bruise way down to the bone, in the corner of his eye – blood.
Around the right eye was also a bruise. Probably, it was the “Raccoon eyes” effect – yellow bruises under the eyes, which may indicate brain concussion.
Shishkin himself also told about mild concussion.
During the next visit of the PSC, Igor Shishkin said that he has burns on his back. Human rights defenders were able to see these injuries two days later, on 2 February. On the back and posterior surface of the hip he had numerous wounds. In the medical map of Shishkin, these tracks are registered as bruises, and not as burns.
“We wrote that, from our point of view, it was obvious that these were the results of torture. It is known from open sources that the interrogation lasted longer than a day. There are a lot of traces on his body, which we perceive as traces of electric wires, as traces of terrible torture” — says PCM member Teplitskaya.
In addition to “burns, presumably from electric wires,” human rights activists recorded a large bruise on one third of the hip.
In the medical journal of the detention center it was written that Shishkin “can not explain the origin of these injuries”. He told to human rights defenders that he had received this bruises while training and that he does not remember where did he get burns from electric shocks on his body.
In addition, after the beating Shishkin did not immediately received medical treatment. “Probably, the FSB officers did not bring his medical documents to the detention center. Shishkin was first taken to the hospital, he was prescribed medication. These documents were not given to a lawyer, nor to the SIZO, noone. They had to take him to the hospital again. That is why treatment was delayed, “- says Jana Teplitskaya.
The act of visual inspection of Viktor Filinkov from the conclusion of the PMC
On January 26, Viktor Filinkov reported on torture. On this day, human rights defenders came to visit him for a second time in jail. They managed to fix on Filinkov body numerous fresh burns from the electric shock on the leg and chest, bruise on the right ankle and traces of handcuffs on both hands.
Filinkov said that he was injured on 24 January by FSB agents. After being arrested at the Pulkovo airport, he was put in a car, taken to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Krasnogvardeisky District, and then to the hospital. From the hospital he was taken to the forest and beaten there. The FSB officers demanded from Filinkov to give confessions. Later, the activist wrote an explanatory note to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Federal Security Service with the formulations that he was forced to learn by heart. The young man was threatened: in case of refusal, they promised to put him in a prison cell with people with tuberculosis. After all, he was taken to search in the flat, where he lived with his neighbor. The neighbor was also threatened.
On February 2, PMC members, in the presence of a medical staff and the head of the SIZO, repeatedly conducted a visual inspection of Filinkov. “Some of the signs of injuries on the surface of the right hip of Victor Filinkov have already disappeared, but about 33 burns are still visible,” – recorded human rights defenders.
In the medical register of admission of sick prisoners was a record about injuries of the activist:
«Damages of the skin (electric shock?) at the right hip and chest area.»
It was noted that “in the area of the right wrist joint (there is) an abrasion from the handcuff, on the front surface of the right lower leg there is a hematoma 2-3 days old, a scratch on the chin of about 5 cm”.
At the same time, Filinkov told to PMC members that he was convinced to stop meeting with human rights defenders. If the communication continued, the security forces threatened “with various problems”. Filinkov learned in one of his people the operative officer K. Bondarev – according to Viktor, this person led the torture in the forest and participated in it himself. Bondarev, during a conversation with Filinkov, admitted his involvement in torture.
The committee’s conclusion says that the state is not interested in an objective investigation of Filinkov and Shishkin tortures. On January 2, when many signs of injuries have already disappeared, experts who could “qualified fix and establish the origin of wounds” still did not visited the arrested, despite numerous appeals by the lawyer and wife of Filinkov, members of the PMC and media reports.
