The Russian ‘fortress’ where UnitedStates reporter is held

Across Russia, Lefortovo immediately stimulates memories of Stalinist purges MOSCOW – UnitedStates reporter Evan Gershkovich’s court look in Moscow on Tuesday will be a uncommon break from his seclusion in Lefortovo jail — a sign of repression giventhat Soviet times. The detention center, which hasactually housed a long list of prominent figures, is crafted by the FSB security service to keep detainees in near-total privacy. “It’s a frozen jail, they’re separating you as much as possible from the outside world and from other detainees, apart from your cellmate,” stated Igor Rudnikov, a previous detainee and reporter. AFP spoke to Rudnikov and legalrepresentatives, activists and households to gain insight into life in the jail. Inside the pale-yellow 19th-century structure, prisoners are prohibited from seeing or speaking to any detainee other than the one cellmate assigned to them. “It’s difficult to explain… picture, you’re just ever with one male, in an eight-square-metre cell, 24/7,” stated Rudnikov, who invested practically 10 months there in 2017-2018. Daily strolls are likewise taken as a set, in a roofless area approximately the exactsame size as a cell. “Even a partner and otherhalf in love can’t invest that long together, let alone individuals who have simply fulfilled,” he continued. For Rudnikov, this was “definitely a method to use mental pressure,” simply like the consistent synthetic light and sound in the structure. – ‘Sound of Lefortovo’ – Much of Lefortovo’s four-storey internal structure is metal — stairs, doors, floorings and trolleys — so the structure “rattles and rings” non-stop. The system that avoids prisoners from seeing anybody when moving around the jail includes to the sound. To alert others to
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