02.06.2014, Kazakhstan
The Respublika portal has published a letter from Vladimir Kozlov, in which the opposition leader in Kazakhstan describes how he was transported from the Northern Kazakhstan region to Almaty.
In mid-March, Kozlov was transferred from the penal colony in Petropavlovsk (164/3) to Zarechnoe (155/14). After international appeals of human rights organisations, the authorities changed the dissident's place of stay. In accordance with the penal enforcement code (Art. 68), the convict should serve his or her sentence in a colony which is the closest to his/her place of residence. Earlier on, Kozlov was imprisoned in Petropavlovsk which is 1800 km from Almaty, making contact with his family very difficult.
It took more than a week, between 13 and 20 March, to transport Kozlov. The distance between Petropavlovsk and Zarechnoe is over 1800 km. All days - Kozlov writes - passed under a nervous atmosphere of mutual suspicion. One never knew what would happen in the colony.
Kozlov was warned by "zeks" - prisoners from so-called active unit, working closely with the establishment's administration, that if the authorities approved his application for transfer, a guard would turn up at his cell, allowing him only 10 minutes to prepare to leave the colony.
Kozlov was warned by "zeks" - prisoners from so-called active unit, working closely with the establishment's administration, that if the authorities approved his application for transfer, a guard would turn up at his cell, allowing him only 10 minutes to prepare to leave the colony.
Kozlov describes how the escorts of the "stolypin" - carriage for transporting prisoners, underlined their power, whipping the detainees with a rubber cable: "I am running to the wagon's entrance - the first of the escorts is there: 'Run!'. I am pushing my way through the narrow twists with the bags and see the other escort standing by the open door of the nearer cell: "Here! Run!". I'm off in that direction -here it is. I've got it. A weaker lash of the whip on my nape; It was the third escort - this is probably how he "counts" the prisoners.
It was crowded on the wagon - the oppositionist reports. Compartments which are intended for 7 passengers had to manage 20 people or more. A prisoner who got stuck in the entrance was pushed inside by the escorts with the use of several cable lashes. The men spent much of the journey half-seated.
After they reached Astana, the prisoners were put in a cell, to get on a wagon before travelling on. Getting on a "stolypin", the escorts reached out for the cables again. Kozlov describes how a prisoner coming in front of him, returning from the medical camp, where he had received treatment for his back problem was whipped by an escort with a cable. The leader of the Alga! Party also describes the pain brought on by the whipping: "I was first whipped on my spine, intuitively, I tried to evade it, shield myself with my arm (…) - I was hit straight on my elbow joint and at a point where my arm was already injured and hanging limply for a long time afterwards. It hurt. I stopped due to the pain, grasping my arm, and then, two of the 'welcoming committee' yelled: 'Faster! Move it!' (…)".
After they changed in Karaganda, Kozlov reached the Almaty district, where Zarechnoe is located. He writes in his letter, rather emotionally: "Almaty convoy! I'm home! All of a sudden, I realised that I was an Almaty man and was almost going home (…)".
