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Abuses endure in Russia’s pretrial detention system

President Dmitry Medvedev’s failed attempt to rein in Russia’s notorious pretrial detention system illustrates the limits of the government’s ability to control a vast bureaucracy that has other interests.

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Natalia Gulevich, an office building developer, before her imprisonment. Gulevich, 52, has been in prison for 11 months, ostensibly because of an unpaid bank loan. Her lawyers say the real reason is that corporate raiders are trying to seize buildings she owns.

Courtesy of the Gulevich family /

A guard removes handcuffs from Natalia Gulevich, 52, after shutting her inside the cage where detainees sit during court proceedings in Moscow. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has sought to discourage police, prosecutors and judges from throwing businesspeople into jail on false charges, often in return for bribes from competitors bent on destroying a rival, but his reforms are being ignored.

A guard removes handcuffs from Natalia Gulevich, 52, after shutting her inside the cage where detainees sit during court proceedings in Moscow. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has sought to discourage police, prosecutors and judges from throwing businesspeople into jail on false charges, often in return for bribes from competitors bent on destroying a rival, but his reforms are being ignored.

Ilya Vasyunin/TVDozhd.ru

Natalia Gulevich awaits the beginning of an Oct. 24 court hearing. Gulevich is suffering from kidney failure, and a Moscow court this month agreed to bail if she posted a $3.5 million bond within a week. The Itar-Tass news agency called the amount unprecedented, and her lawyers said she could not find that much money. Gulevich was finally hospitalized -- after the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg told the Russian government to provide her with immediate medical treatment.

Natalia Gulevich awaits the beginning of an Oct. 24 court hearing. Gulevich is suffering from kidney failure, and a Moscow court this month agreed to bail if she posted a $3.5 million bond within a week. The Itar-Tass news agency called the amount unprecedented, and her lawyers said she could not find that much money. Gulevich was finally hospitalized -- after the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg told the Russian government to provide her with immediate medical treatment.

Ilya Vasyunin/TVDozhd.ru

Russian jailers in the courtyard of women's pretrial detention facility No. 6 in Moscow. Last year, according to court records, 59 people died in Moscow's pretrial prisons, a half-dozen more than the year before.

Russian jailers in the courtyard of women's pretrial detention facility No. 6 in Moscow. Last year, according to court records, 59 people died in Moscow's pretrial prisons, a half-dozen more than the year before.

Denis Sinyakov/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images

Sergei Magnitsky's death in Moscow's Butyrka prison on Nov. 16, 2009, at the age of 38, put pretrial detention under scrutiny. Magnitsky, a lawyer who accused officials of a $230 million tax fraud, was charged by those same officials with the crime. In detention, investigators tried to force him to implicate his employer, Hermitage Capital, a Western investment fund. He refused and was denied treatment for pancreatitis and beaten before he died.

Sergei Magnitsky's death in Moscow's Butyrka prison on Nov. 16, 2009, at the age of 38, put pretrial detention under scrutiny. Magnitsky, a lawyer who accused officials of a $230 million tax fraud, was charged by those same officials with the crime. In detention, investigators tried to force him to implicate his employer, Hermitage Capital, a Western investment fund. He refused and was denied treatment for pancreatitis and beaten before he died.

Hermitage Capital

Nataliya Magnitskaya, the mother of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky who died in jail in 2009, speaks with the Associated Press in Moscow. A Russian commission investigated Magnitsky's death at President Dmitry Medvedev's behest, but the findings went right to those officials implicated in the death. Nataliya Magnitskaya said she was only allowed to visit Magnitsky once during his 11-month imprisonment and found him emaciated and exhausted.

Nataliya Magnitskaya, the mother of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky who died in jail in 2009, speaks with the Associated Press in Moscow. A Russian commission investigated Magnitsky's death at President Dmitry Medvedev's behest, but the findings went right to those officials implicated in the death. Nataliya Magnitskaya said she was only allowed to visit Magnitsky once during his 11-month imprisonment and found him emaciated and exhausted.

Alexander Zemlianichenko/Associated Press

Cells for inmates in pretrial detention are often crowded, and diseases spread rapidly. This photo and others, were taken by a prisoner using a cellphone.

Cells for inmates in pretrial detention are often crowded, and diseases spread rapidly. This photo and others, were taken by a prisoner using a cellphone.

Association of Independent Monitors

Inmates being held for trial sleep in close quarters in a Russian pretrial detention center. Last year, according to court records, 404,333 people were convicted of economic crimes; 146,490 were sent to prison. The rest paid fines or received suspended sentences.

Inmates being held for trial sleep in close quarters in a Russian pretrial detention center. Last year, according to court records, 404,333 people were convicted of economic crimes; 146,490 were sent to prison. The rest paid fines or received suspended sentences.

Association of Independent Monitors

Inmates in pretrial detention cook food that relatives bring them and eat in their cells.

Inmates in pretrial detention cook food that relatives bring them and eat in their cells.

Association of Independent Monitors

Cells are crowded with inmates' belongings. Relatives say they often have to bribe jailers to permit them to bring clothes and blankets to detainees.

Cells are crowded with inmates' belongings. Relatives say they often have to bribe jailers to permit them to bring clothes and blankets to detainees.

Association of Independent Monitors

Water in many pretrial detention centers is not drinkable, and detainees use hotplates or immersion coils to boil it.

Water in many pretrial detention centers is not drinkable, and detainees use hotplates or immersion coils to boil it.

Association of Independent Monitors

Inmates awaiting trial often have little space and live under worse conditions than convicted criminals.

Inmates awaiting trial often have little space and live under worse conditions than convicted criminals.

Association of Independent Monitors

A cell door in a Russian pretrial jail detention center. 'Prisons are a tool for taking a business from an entrepreneur,' said Lyubov Volkova, a member of Russia's prison-monitoring commission. 'They're destroying the middle-class of Russia, while real criminals happily serve their sentences with rosy cheeks.'

A cell door in a Russian pretrial jail detention center. "Prisons are a tool for taking a business from an entrepreneur," said Lyubov Volkova, a member of Russia's prison-monitoring commission. "They're destroying the middle-class of Russia, while real criminals happily serve their sentences with rosy cheeks."

Association of Independent Monitors

Snow accumulates inside a prison cell window. Prisoners complain that cells are cold in the winter and hot in summer.

Snow accumulates inside a prison cell window. Prisoners complain that cells are cold in the winter and hot in summer.

Association of Independent Monitors

A pretrial detention center resembles a collection of sheds. This photo and others were taken by a prisoner using a cellphone.

A pretrial detention center resembles a collection of sheds. This photo and others were taken by a prisoner using a cellphone.

Association of Independent Monitors

The Matrosskaya Tishina pretrial detention center in Moscow is where former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was held before he was sent to a Siberian prison. Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev were convicted in 2005 of tax fraud at their company, Yukos Oil; the charges were widely seen as politically motivated and legally dubious. Khodorkovsky had made an enemy of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. As the end of their sentences approached, they were tried again and convicted on embezzlement charges.

The Matrosskaya Tishina pretrial detention center in Moscow is where former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was held before he was sent to a Siberian prison. Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev were convicted in 2005 of tax fraud at their company, Yukos Oil; the charges were widely seen as politically motivated and legally dubious. Khodorkovsky had made an enemy of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. As the end of their sentences approached, they were tried again and convicted on embezzlement charges.

Andrey Smirnov/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images

Ludmilla Alexeyeva, the human rights activist who heads the Moscow Helsinki Group, speaks to reporters in Moscow in November on the first anniversary of the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. Last month, Russian authorities ordered a new forensic probe into Magnitsky's death in prison, which his supporters said stemmed from mistreatment.

Ludmilla Alexeyeva, the human rights activist who heads the Moscow Helsinki Group, speaks to reporters in Moscow in November on the first anniversary of the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. Last month, Russian authorities ordered a new forensic probe into Magnitsky's death in prison, which his supporters said stemmed from mistreatment.

Yuri Kadobnov/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images

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