Political scientist Alexander Kynev, who is in pretrial detention on charges of attempting to sell drugs, has gone on a hunger strike, the legal advocacy project Slovo Zashchite reported.
His lawyer, Mikhail Biryukov, said Kynev began the hunger strike because he cannot use the toilet in his overcrowded cell, which he shares with 34 other people.
“There’s a hole in the floor [of the cell] instead of a toilet, and he can’t use it because his leg is in a cast after being broken in two places,” Biryukov said. “That’s why he’s not eating. We’ve done everything we can to get him moved today to a place that meets his medical needs.”
Kynev has been in custody since September 25. Slovo Zashchite previously reported that he was severely beaten during his arrest, leaving him with a leg broken in two places. According to political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann, Kynev was beaten to force him to confess to treason.
Kynev denies the charges of attempting to sell drugs.
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- Russian elections expert Alexander Kynev stayed in the country to keep studying its politics. After criticizing the latest vote, he was arrested on drug charges.
- Russia’s FSB security service publishes dramatic videos of political arrests. A human rights group says roughly a quarter of the arrest scenes it examined were staged.
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