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In Novgorod Oblast, Usman Baratov has been sentenced to one year and eight months in a high-security penal colony on charges of “disorganising the operation of a penal colony” (Part 2, Article 321 of the Russian Criminal Code). This was reported by the human rights organisation Civic Control.
According to investigators, 67-year-old Baratov took a body camera from a staff member at the Valday Penal Colony No. 4 and threw it at their chest. Baratov himself stated that he simply picked up the fallen camera and tossed it aside when the prison officer didn’t retrieve it. The camera was not working at the time.
Baratov describes the case as “revenge from the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN).” He has serious health problems. According to him, he is not receiving medical care while in detention:
“They are waiting for me to die like Alexei Navalny, they are waiting for my death, yes, I will die, but it will be on your conscience.”
His attending doctor told the court that Baratov has hypertension, signs of heart failure, swelling of the lower leg, and frequently elevated blood pressure, reports SOTAvision. The doctor described his condition as “moderately severe.” He noted that Baratov had been held in solitary confinement (SHIZO) for about half a year—that is, during his entire time in the colony.
In August 2024, the man was sentenced to four years in a general-regime penal colony in a previous case. At that time, he was convicted of inciting hatred because of an image on Odnoklassniki attached to a news post about rising egg prices. The image was of a hen with a caption: “You’ll get nothing with butter, and no eggs! Bring the roosters back from the front!” The case was initiated after complaints from “war correspondents.” A year later, the sentence was reduced to three years and two months in a settlement-colony.
The man has been in custody since January 2024. If there had not been new criminal charges, he would have been released on 20 November 2025.