Convicts from the Presnya pre-trial detention center complained about slave labor: no time to sleep

The problem arose due to a lack of household services

Convicts from the economic detachment of Moscow pre-trial detention center No. 3 (Presnya) wrote a collective complaint to human rights activists, in which they spoke about the terrible conditions of serving their sentences. According to the inmates, they work from early morning until late at night, and they do not even have enough time to eat and sleep.

Let us recall that human rights activists have been paying attention to the problem of the owners of Moscow pre-trial detention centers for a long time. There are not many people willing to serve their sentences in such detachments, which is why they are understaffed. Meanwhile, it is the “housekeepers” who essentially ensure the functioning of the entire pre-trial detention center: they restore order on the territory and in the premises, repair plumbing in the cells, prepare and serve food for prisoners, etc. Due to the lack of household services, a problem arose, which the convicts described in a collective complaint sent to the prosecutor’s office and human rights activists.

It talks about the facts when “household workers” are involved in hard work without observing sleep and rest schedules. Thus, convicts involved in cleaning the security building stop working after 22.00, while they still need to take a shower and clean themselves up (because they throw away slop – their clothes and body become saturated with an unpleasant odor). Thus, they cannot go to bed before 23-24 hours (and some go to bed after midnight), and work begins at 6 am.

One of the convicts, Victor L, unable to withstand the inhuman conditions, decided to commit suicide on December 2. He survived, but the incident itself was put on hold. According to Victor’s own statement (it is at the disposal of the editors), on December 4, deputy chief Mikhailov, under threats, forced him to write an explanatory note: he was allegedly injured while working on a vegetable cutter. The convicted Evgeniy also had troubles. His wife said that he stopped communicating (“housekeepers” have the right to make calls) after complaining that he, sick with a high temperature, was forced to clear snow in the cold until late at night. In addition, according to the wife, there is a practice in the pre-trial detention center according to which all convicts from economic detachments are promised assistance in getting parole if they provide humanitarian assistance. Evgeniy’s wife was offered to purchase 400-500 seedlings, which needed to be planted on the eve of the prosecutor’s office inspection. She bought these seedlings (the receipts were preserved) and handed them over to the isolation ward. But her husband was never given a good reference for the trial. The same situation, according to her, is with some other convicts.

We asked the Moscow Public Inspectorate to conduct a comprehensive inspection of the household services detachment.