A Russian 16-year-old boy serving a prison sentence for terrorism has been placed in an isolation cell at a Moscow pretrial detention centre, human rights group Memorial reported on Wednesday.
Arseny Turbin, from the town of Livny in Russia’s western Oryol region, was sent to the cell for seven days, the maximum period allowed for minors, for speaking to cellmates after lockdown, his mother told Memorial. According to Turbin, nobody had previously been sent to the punishment cell for such a minor infraction of the rules.
It was originally for his posts critical of Vladimir Putin on his Telegram channel, Free Russia, that Turbin, aged just 14 when the investigation began, came to the attention of the authorities, despite it only having five subscribers.
However, investigators later alleged that Turbin had joined the Freedom of Russia Legion, which fights alongside the Armed Forces of Ukraine against the Russian military and is designated a terrorist organisation in Russia, in 2023.
The Federal Security Service’s transcript of Turbin’s interrogation alleged that he had filled out and emailed an application form to join the legion. An audio recording of the interrogation played back in court revealed that he had in fact said the exact opposite.
Nevertheless, Turbin was sentenced to five years in a juvenile detention centre in June for involvement in the activities of a terrorist organisation.
When Turbin, who has experienced rapid weight loss while in prison, was beaten by a cellmate last month, the perpetrator faced no repercussions until Turbin’s mother intervened, though his cellmate has now been transferred to another cell.