Azat Miftakhov’s supporter was accused of ‘antisocial behaviour’ during a visit to the penal colony

Azat Miftakhov’s lawyer visited him at the Polar Owl penal colony to hand over documents and get answers to questions from his wife—she had previously been denied entry to the colony. After meeting with Miftakhov, the lawyer was stopped by penal colony staff as she was about to leave. RusNews reports.

“On my way out, I was stopped by a whole group of staff and the duty officer, who literally took my folder of documents from me and, without letting me near him, read through every sheet. Then, finding notes passed to me by Miftakhov, as well as sheets with my own personal notes unrelated to my work with Miftakhov or other prisoners, he confiscated these items, saying that a report on the seizure would be filed,” the lawyer wrote in a statement to the Labytnangi court—a town in the Russian Far North—adding that the examination and seizure of documents violated legal professional privilege.

Several days later, the lawyer returned to the penal colony. This time, at the entrance, she was officially cautioned for “antisocial behaviour”: staff considered it a violation that she “took correspondence from Miftakhov with the intention of passing it to his wife, bypassing the administration”.

Now, every time the lawyer visits the penal colony, she is made to sign a written notice confirming that she has read the rules.