Human rights activists spoke about the condition of “Bitmama” who gave birth in the pre-trial detention center

Members of the Moscow Public Monitoring Committee inspected the women’s detention center

The women’s detention center of Pre-trial Detention Center-6 does not leave the news pages in connection with the recent arrest of Elena Blinovskaya. The blogger had already been visited by human rights activists, journalists described the harsh life awaiting the VIP prisoner, accustomed to luxury. But behind all this hype with the imprisonment of the marathon queen, an equally important event in the life of the dungeons was lost – another addition occurred among the residents of the pre-trial detention center.

Alexey Lobarev, a member of the Moscow Public Monitoring Committee, told MK about a joyful event in the life of the central and blogger Valeria Fedyakina, accused of embezzlement of billions. According to the human rights activist, members of the supervisory commission met her at a hairdresser during an inspection of the detention center.

“We visited RV SIZO-6 last Friday, there is a slight over-limit: out of 930, there are 1,016 people in the detention center.

We visited 10 cells, we talked with the defendants – they all have sleeping places, with convicts from the household service detachment, about 200 people in total. Issues regarding comments were resolved on the spot, no complaints were received.

In one of the cells for 33 people, a chorus of gratitude was expressed to the doctors of the detention center; this was the first time I had seen this.

We visited the prison library and talked with the staff. Compared to other detention centers, there is a very wide selection here – more than 10 thousand books. The library is popular among the special contingent, women most often read detective stories, psychology, novels and 18+, there are also erotic stories. They also take out dictionaries on their own and study English, Spanish, and German.

We paid special attention to mothers—a total of 13 women are being held in pre-trial detention centers with children, and another 11 are in precarious condition. I’ll tell you about one of them, Valeria Fedyakin, we had a fruitful conversation with her. We did not find her in the seven-bed cell where she is kept. But they found her in the stylist’s chair – the woman is also kept in an isolation ward and works in a hairdressing salon. She recognized us; the last time I saw her was during an inspection of the pre-trial detention center in September 2023. She was pregnant then, I say with her consent, and on December 29 she gave birth to a girl. Everything went well, but Valeria raised an interesting question.

According to Valeria, she was unable to organize childbirth in a private clinic. When the law does not prohibit persons under investigation from receiving medical care in commercial organizations. Subject to compliance with regulations and security measures, persons under investigation and convicts undergo examinations in paid clinics. But there were no precedents with childbirth. As an argument, Valeria said that before she was arrested, she had a contract with the maternity hospital, and there was a doctor who took care of her from the very beginning. We agreed that she would formalize her proposals to the administration of the pre-trial detention center to improve conditions for the prisoners in writing. Already for expectant mothers who are behind bars.

Returning to the hairdresser, Valeria said that she was in a prison beauty salon for the first time and was pleasantly surprised. Services are paid, for example, coloring costs 600 rubles, and eyebrows 200 rubles. But, according to the interlocutor, this is a real joy for women in prison. Perhaps, after some time, when the quarantine is over and the “free” styling disappears, Elena Blinovskaya will sign up for a hairdressing appointment at the salon,” Alexey Lobarev, a member of the Public Monitoring Committee, said about the next inspection.