Open source

Ukrainian political prisoner Oleksandr Kolchenko, who stays at the penal colony No.6 in Kopeysk, Russia, was visited by the lawyer of the Ural Human Rights Group on January, 29. Tatyana Shchur, the Russian human rights defender reported that on Facebook.

The last meeting was held on December 25, 2018.

“No changes took place since the last meeting: he visits gym and library; he is on a diet, so he gets a handful of cheese, a piece of butter and several eggs a couple of times per week. He looks disappointed, because he can’t get the books his friends send him, the books are returned to senders without any explanations”, - the human right defender wrote.

She also said that Kolchenko spent several days (from December 27 till January 6) in a punishment cell.

“And for what? For unauthorized movement outside the local area. But everybody always “moves” through the colony just like he does. And it's only before the special days when special prisoners are punished. Besides, prisoners never know or do not remember at all where, when and who gave the order. The same happened to Olexandr Kolchenko before the New Year’s Eve. Exactly, he was punished for “movement” to the gym, the library or the canteen”, - Shchur said.

Besides, according to Shchur, Kolchenko lost weight and became an even more closed person.

“I did not like him this time. He was pale, thin and more closed. He was under stress. He stopped smiling” – the defender wrote referring to the lawyer’s words.

As we reported earlier, Kolchenko and Sentsov were detained by Russian intelligence services in Crimea in May 2014. They were accused of the organization of a terrorist act on the peninsula. Kolchenko was sentenced to 10 years of the colony, and Sentsov got 20 years. Both are denying their guilt.