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The Moscow City Court has kept political scientist Aleksandr Kynev, who is accused in a drug-related case, in pre-trial detention. The defence requested that his pre-trial restrictions be changed to those not involving deprivation of liberty, citing, among other things, his state of health. Mediazona reports this from the courtroom.
At the hearing, Kynev said that during his arrest he was thrown to the floor, and now “considering the injuries sustained,” he cannot move around normally. In order to reach the room to take part in the court session via video link, he had to go up and down several flights of stairs and move across a cold floor, and his leg is in a cast. Kynev’s lawyer called his detention in the remand prison “inhumane” and stated that without medical assistance, he could end up disabled.
Kynev was detained on 25 September with the involvement of FSB officers. The Perovsky District Court of Moscow sent him to the remand prison until 24 November on charges of attempted large-scale drug distribution (paragraph “g” of part 4 of article 228.1 of the Criminal Code). The political scientist does not admit guilt. After his detention, he was diagnosed with two fractures of the shinbone; a source in the FSIN medical unit for the “Word to the Defence” project claimed the injuries resulted from torture.
In October, Kynev was transferred from the Matrosskaya Tishina prison hospital to SIZO-4 “Medved.” In a letter from there, he said he is still in a cast and cannot walk because he has no crutches. SIZO-4 has been repeatedly criticised for its detention conditions: human rights defenders have reported beatings and extortion, overcrowded cells, and poor medical assistance. During the investigation in the “military fakes” case, politician Ilya Yashin was also held there.