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The human rights defender Bahrom Khamroev, who was sentenced to almost 14 years in prison, has been transferred to IK-18 “Polar Owl,” a special-regime penal colony for those sentenced to life imprisonment, located in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District in the Russian Arctic. This was reported by “ZPCh.”
“Literally just now, Bahrom’s lawyer called me and said that Bahrom has been transferred to IK-18 ‘Polar Owl’—a special-regime colony for those serving life sentences,” Khamroev’s wife told the project.
In February 2022, Khamroev was detained and arrested in a case of justifying terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Russian Criminal Code) over Facebook posts in which investigators claimed to see support for the Islamist party Hizb ut-Tahrir. The human rights defender was not a member of the group; he simply helped Muslims accused of involvement with it. He was later charged with another offence—organising the activities of a terrorist organisation (Part 1, Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code). Khamroev was accused of “representing the interests of supporters of a terrorist organisation” and drawing certain individuals into the activities of Hizb ut-Tahrir.
In 2023, Khamroev was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment. The first three years were to be served in prison (this part of the sentence has already been served), with the rest in a strict-regime penal colony. The court’s verdict softened the charge, changing “organising terrorist activities” to “participation” (Part 2, Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code). In October the same year, his sentence was reduced to 13 years and nine months. In August 2024, the appellate decision was upheld by the court of cassation.
In December 2023, Khamroev was transferred to Vladimir Central prison, northeast of Moscow. The administration confiscated his Qur’an. Over the next month, the human rights defender demanded that at least five complaints about his detention conditions be accepted.
According to Zuhra Khamroeva, on 23 January 2024, her husband was taken out of his cell under the pretext of a search and was severely beaten. After this, Khamroev’s lawyer was twice refused access to their client, and medical staff would not record the injuries. Other Muslims held at the facility demanded an end to the abuse against him, with some also allegedly beaten. However, the human rights defender managed to send a complaint to the Investigative Committee, which is now carrying out an inquiry. After submitting the complaint, Khamroev had his confiscated Qur’an and medicines returned. Zuhra notes that shortly before the assault, prison doctors had prescribed her husband a medication that caused him severe headaches.
At the end of 2024 and the start of 2025, Khamroev was twice placed in a punishment cell (SHIZO) for 15 days. The first time was because he called himself a political prisoner during a prosecutor’s visit. During his second term in solitary confinement, the human rights defender began fainting, and this continued after his return to the regular cell.
Khamroev already had health issues before his imprisonment due to a traumatic brain injury, and he had survived a stroke. In addition, he has been diagnosed with a spinal hernia and diabetes.
From March 2025 until at least May, Khamroev was in the prison hospital. There, he was not given the necessary stroke and diabetes medication, and underwent a gastroscopy he had tried to refuse. After the procedure, Khamroev developed a bright red rash spreading from the left side of his abdomen to his back, reaching the spine. He also lost significant weight during his hospital stay.