The Federal Penitentiary Service has reported a decrease in the number of people held in the capital’s detention centers almost to the standard level

Over the past year, overcrowding in Moscow pre-trial detention centers has been reduced by almost four times, bringing the number of citizens held in these places almost to standard levels. This follows from the response of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation to Kommersant’s request. The department explained that the situation was improved thanks to the transfer of prisoners to institutions in other regions. Representatives of the penitentiary system also made it clear that they are interacting “with the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation on the issues of reducing the terms of detention of suspects and accused persons.” Human rights activists argue that the transfer of prisoners from the capital to regional pre-trial detention centers could lead to a violation of their rights, and work to reduce the period of arrest is almost invisible.

The Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation, in response to a request from Kommersant, reported that last year the department managed to significantly reduce the over-limit of the capital’s pre-trial detention centers. Over-limit – exceeding the normative number of people in detention centers. If at the end of 2022 the standard was exceeded by 22%, then by the end of last year overcrowding was estimated at only 6%. These data were first published by the Commissioner for Human Rights in Moscow, Tatyana Potyaeva.

The Federal Penitentiary Service did not provide data on the capacity of the Moscow pre-trial detention center in its response to Kommersant. Human rights activist Eva Merkacheva (was part of the capital’s POC until the fall of 2022, regularly visited penitentiary institutions with inspections) said, referring to the penitentiary service, that the capital’s detention centers are designed to hold 9 thousand people, and the actual number of prisoners in 2022 exceeded 11 thousand. Human. “People sleep on the floor. “There are a lot of sick and disabled people sleeping around,” Ms. Merkacheva complained. “The whole system is collapsing because of the over-limit: censors don’t have time to read letters, employees don’t have time to pick up parcels from the post office, deliver packages to cells, take them to the bathhouse and for walks.” Ms. Potyaeva explained the collapse in overcrowding in pre-trial detention centers in 2022 by the fact that courts are increasingly choosing house arrest as a preventive measure.

The press service of the Federal Penitentiary Service told Kommersant that the number of people held in pre-trial detention centers in Moscow was reduced by transferring citizens to detention centers in other regions. Thus, since the beginning of 2023, more than 6 thousand people have been redistributed from the Moscow pre-trial detention center: “By agreement with the courts, the transfer of convicts registered in the courts of appeal, as well as persons whose criminal cases were considered in the court of first instance, awaiting receipt of an order to enter a sentence, is carried out court into legal force, from the Moscow pre-trial detention center to the disposal of other territorial bodies of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, which have the conditions for their placement.” The decision to transfer citizens to detention centers in another region, in accordance with current legislation, can be made by a court or a preliminary investigation body; There are no restrictions on the grounds for transfer. Such citizens are present at court hearings via video conferencing.

The department admitted that it was not possible to completely resolve the problem of overcrowding in the capital’s pre-trial detention centers “due to objective reasons”: “This is due, among other things, to the high population density and to the emerging judicial practice of choosing detention and the length of stay of suspects accused in a pre-trial detention center.” In this regard, according to the FSIN, representatives of the department began “interaction with the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation on the issues of reducing the length of detention of suspects and accused persons.” The service noted the effectiveness of this practice and reported that by the end of 2023, the number of people held in Russian pre-trial detention centers and PFRSI (premises operating as a pre-trial detention center) had decreased by more than 5 thousand people. Now these institutions are 83% full, while in August 2022 pre-trial detention centers were 97% full.

Eva Merkacheva confirmed that the number of prisoners in Moscow detention centers has decreased. However, she says, as a result of the redistribution of citizens from capital to regional pre-trial detention centers, their rights could be violated, and conditions of detention could worsen. “They were transported, including patients, after interrupting treatment, to a place where their relatives and lawyers do not live,” the human rights activist emphasized. “Thereby they were deprived of transfers, visits, legal assistance – the lawyer must be paid extra for business trips, and not everyone will go . They are deprived of the opportunity to attend the appeal in person.”

Sergei Aristov, a member of the Moscow Public Monitoring Committee and General Director of the Center for Assistance to the Development of the Penitentiary System, also points out that many people moved from capital to regional pre-trial detention centers are deprived of the opportunity to have frequent meetings with a defense lawyer. Work to reduce the length of stay in a pre-trial detention center, according to Mr. Aristov, is still invisible. He insists that the issue of overcrowding in pre-trial detention centers can only be resolved by expanding the practice of using alternative preventive measures: “There is no point in keeping those involved in cases involving non-violent crimes in pre-trial detention centers.”

The Commissioner for Human Rights in Moscow, Tatyana Potyaeva, told Kommersant that back in 2022 she discussed expanding the practice of courts using alternative preventive measures with the chairman of the Moscow City Court. “The measures taken were successful, but did not lead to the desired result, so we continued to work in this direction,” explained Mrs. Potyaeva.

Kommersant asked the Moscow City Court for information about the results of the meeting with the commissioner, but has not yet received a response.

Emilia Gabdullina