Convicted 61-year-old Jehovah's Witness is Regularly Sent to the Punishment Cell Despite Serious Health Problems

Alam Aliyev, one of Jehovah's Witnesses sentenced to 6.5 years in a penal colony for his faith, spent 28 days in the punishment cell of Penal Colony No.8 in the Amur Region. The conditions of detention there are not suitable for Aliyev's health – he has diabetes, kidney disease, heart problems and neurological disorders.

Simply put, a punishment cell (SHIZO) is a "prison within a prison". The prisoner's rights are significantly restricted, for example, he is forbidden to lie down during the day, visits and telephone conversations are prohibited and there are restrictions on receiving parcels.

"Not only are Jehovah's Witnesses unjustly thrown into penal colonies, but life there is made even more difficult for them by fabricating violations. "Violations worthy of isolation" can be, for example, an unfastened button, the absence of a tag with the prisoner's name on the cabinet. Sometimes imprisoned Jehovah's Witnesses do not even know what violations are imputed to them. They are simply sent to a punishment cell," explained Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Alam Aliyev suffers from severe headaches, but during his detention in the punishment cell he was not provided with proper medical care and was not even given painkillers. On the contrary, the staff of the institution drew up a report on Aliyev and reprimanded him for putting his head on the table during a pain attack.

According to the believer's relatives, Alam did not have drinkable water in the punishment cell: "One glass of sweet tea three times a day was all that was available to him, despite the fact that he suffers from diabetes."

So far, during his imprisonment, the administration of the colony has already placed Aliyev in the punishment cell 4 times for a total of 45 days. The last time was from April 11 to May 8, 2024.