Appeal against torture in Mahiliou penal colony filed with Mahiliou Regional Court

Minsker Liudmila Kuchura applied to Mahiliou Regional Court after the refusal of the Investigative Committee to examine the complaint about torture of her husband Piatro Kuchura in colony No. 15 in Mahiliou.

In November 2013 Liudmila Kuchura appealed to the Mahiliou regional department of the Investigative Committee concerning the torture against her husband, Piatro Kuchura, who was serving a sentence in penal colony No. 15 in Mahiliou at the time. Instead of carrying out an inspection concerning the facts of cruel and inhuman treatment of prisoners and the assessment of the actions of the management and staff of the colony, the chief of Mahiliou Regional Department of the Investigative Committee forwarded the complaint to the MIA Department of Corrections.

Pointing out that the examination of the application by the Department can not be considered impartial, wife of prisoner appealed to the Investigation Committee of the Republic of Belarus the transfer of the complaint to another body. The Investigative Committee, in its turn, dismissed the appeal, finding no violations in the actions of the subordinate body.

Thereby Liudmila Kuchura and her husband were deprived of the right to judicial protectionm as in the case of an inspection and a refusal based on its results they would have the right to appeal the denial in court in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code.

This made the woman go to court. But in December the Leninski district court of Mahiliou refused to institute civil proceedings on the appeal against the decision by the head of the Mahiliou Regional Department of the Investigative Committee.

Despite the fact that December 30, 2013 the “inconvenient” prisoner Kuchura was transferred to the maximum-security prison No. 4 in Mahiliou, his wife doesn't give up. Seeking the justice, she went to the Mahiliou Regional Court.

"As a result of the actions of the official I am deprived of their right to appeal to the competent body for protection against attempts on the life and health of my husband, who is in custody", stated Liudmila Kuchura in hear appeal to the regional court.

The woman asks to reverse the ruling of the Leninski District Court of Mahiliou for December 19, 2013 and send the case for a review by the court of first instance.

Let us remind that September 19, 2013 Piatro Kuchura, who has a third-group disability (chronic heart illness), was put in a punishment cell, whose toilet bowl and sink were filled with bleach. As a result of the contact with water a reaction occurred which caused the poisoning of the prisoner with chlorine fumes. He was transferred to another cell only after a significant deterioration of health. No medical care was provided for him. As explained by officers of the medical department of Mahiliou penal colony No. 15, sodium chloride hasn't been used for desinfection in the colony for quite a long time already. It means that sodium cloride could be used to torture the convict.