Merzlyakova did not find a "prison jamaat" in Yekaterinburg's pre-trial detention center.

      The Ombudsperson for Human Rights in the Sverdlovsk Region, Tatiana Merzlyakova, inspected Pre‑trial Detention Center (SIZO) No. 5 in Yekaterinburg after a letter from one of the women detained there about special conditions for Muslims. The ombudsperson toured the facility’s cells and spoke with the defendants, Kommersant‑Ural reports, citing the Council for Human Rights (CHR) under the President of the Russian Federation.

      “Previously SIZO No. 5 was an exclusively women’s detention facility, but now it holds more than 20 male transit prisoners who were brought to Yekaterinburg for trials on serious charges. This complicates the situation in the institution, but Tatiana Merzlyakova found no privileges for people practising Islam,” the Council emphasized.

      The inspection followed a letter to a member of the Council, chief editor of the Regnum news agency, Marina Akhmedova. The journalist published the appeal on her Telegram channel.

      The inmate said there was a “prison jamaat” in the SIZO. Allegedly, a staff member who is a Tatar had been assigned to oversee the Muslims, a significant proportion of whom were accused under Article 205 of the Russian Criminal Code (terrorist act). She also said that Muslims were able to cook food right in their cells, and that they always had plenty of provisions.

      The ombudsperson noted that she inspected both women’s and men’s cells, in particular checking reports that Muslims were preparing food in cells and that a strong smell from the food was causing “women to feel constantly hungry.”

      “The defendant is housed next to the kitchen, which was recently renovated, and did indeed smell the odor, but it was not coming from the cells, rather from the detention centre’s kitchen. Other women spoken to by Tatiana Merzlyakova are not bothered by these aromas,” the Council explained.

      The Sverdlovsk ombudsperson told the Council that others held in the SIZO do not experience discomfort from the Muslim rites and the performance of namaz.

      The Federal Penitentiary Service (GUFSIN) for the Sverdlovsk Region also rejects the information about a “jamaat.” Its press service emphasized that there are no concessions for those practising Islam in the SIZO.

      “In media reports it is said that members of the Muslim community allegedly have homemade stoves and use them to prepare food. We draw attention to the fact that the use of electric stoves for cooking in cell premises is prohibited by current legislation. According to food provision norms, hot meals in a SIZO are prepared in the common kitchen; there is no difference in the guaranteed meals for persons held in the institution,” the Sverdlovsk GUFSIN added.

      “We plan to hold a round table on the observance of Muslim rites in our colonies. We will discuss what needs to be done so that those who do not observe Muslim customs and traditions have no complaints, and at the same time so that we do not violate freedom of religion,” Tatiana Merzlyakova said in turn.