A legal expert from Kaliningrad, sentenced to two years, has been on hunger strike in the penal colony for 22 days.

Sven Nordin, a legal expert sentenced to two years in prison for allegedly insulting the honour of a World War II veteran online (under Article 354.1 part 4 of the Russian Criminal Code), has been on hunger strike for 22 days in Kaliningrad’s Penal Colony No. 8, according to SOTAvision.

The activist reported the hunger strike during the hearing of his cassation appeal in Russia’s Supreme Court. He said he is refusing food because of ongoing pressure and harassment in the penal colony. Previously, Nordin described being beaten and other forms of pressure due to his homosexuality.

The court dismissed the prisoner’s appeal and upheld the original sentence.

Nordin was transferred to the penal colony in December 2024. Earlier, in September, it was reported that he was placed on a preventive register in the pre-trial detention centre as someone allegedly “prone to spreading extremist ideology.” He also faced systematic pressure: he was denied phone calls and contact with his lawyer, was not given his warm clothes and books, received smaller food portions and was forbidden to use the library.

The case against the legal expert was opened on 9 August 2022. Investigators allege that in September 2021 Nordin posted on his VKontakte page an article titled “Karatsupa and Chikatilo: Similar Faces, Different Fates, One Regime,” ending with the words: “Of course, even Chikatilo would hardly have outdone Karatsupa’s ‘accomplishments.’” Documents state that Nordin, “having formed a positive attitude towards the actions of Adolf Hitler” and being “a supporter of Nazi Germany’s ideology,” compared border guard Colonel and Hero of the Soviet Union Nikita Karatsupa to serial killer Andrei Chikatilo in the post, thereby offending the former. In June 2024, the Kaliningrad Regional Court sentenced him to two years in a general-regime penal colony.

Before criminal proceedings began in the summer of 2022, Nordin’s home was searched, during which he was tasered and beaten. Afterwards, he was taken to court and placed under pre-trial restrictions. In February 2024, the Investigative Committee refused to open a criminal investigation into the beating. Nordin had also previously spoken about the harsh conditions in a psychiatric hospital where he was placed at the investigator’s request as part of the case investigation.