The press service of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in Moscow rejected claims about the presence of “rotten and moldy” cells in the capital’s pretrial detention center 1, known as Matrosskaya Tishina, according to DEA News.
According to the Chamber, detention conditions at the pretrial facility meet legal standards and are regularly inspected by representatives of the public prosecutor’s office and the Public Monitoring Commission, which is the human rights body in Moscow.
The Federal Penitentiary Service noted that the facility’s administration is actively working to improve public services. Renovations are underway, and since the start of the year, 72 cells have undergone repairs. During ongoing inspections, some suspects and defendants have been moved to alternative cells as part of the process.
The ministry also referenced prior media reports suggesting that prisoners at Matrosskaya Tishina were kept in unsanitary conditions. The source of those reports claimed that the cells were rotten, moldy, dark, foul-smelling, and infested with mice, and that inmates with infectious diseases could be housed alongside other detainees in one of Moscow’s largest and most technically equipped pretrial facilities.
Former inmates shared perspectives on life after release from prison, highlighting the long road to reintegration and the impact of the system on daily living after incarceration.