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Arseny Turbin from Perm was placed in solitary confinement at Perm Pre-Trial Detention Centre No. 5 on 3 March, reports the “Perm Human Rights Publication.” This is the Telegram channel run by journalist Oksana Asaulenko, who is a member of the local public monitoring commission.

That day, Asaulenko tried to deliver food to Turbin, who is 17 years old. Due to a dispute with a detention centre staff member, who refused to accept the parcel without pre-booking, Asaulenko had to call the special unit. They told her that it was also possible to hand over the food without booking and asked her to wait. When it was the student’s turn for a delivery, the same staff member made a call to someone and then told the journalist that Turbin was in solitary confinement and would not be able to accept any deliveries.

“In two hours, while we were waiting, did he just suddenly end up there? I’m updating Arseny’s mother with the news. She calls the educator. They say Arseny isn’t in solitary, everything is fine, it’s just a mix-up in the parcel room,” writes Asaulenko.

After that, she told the staff member that the educator had not confirmed the solitary confinement. “The educator doesn’t know yet. He’ll be sent there today anyway. I can’t accept the parcel,” replied the staff member.

Asaulenko notes that, typically, if there are violations, it is the educator who files a report. She suggests that the decision to punish Turbin by placing him in solitary confinement was made solely by the head of the detention centre. The journalist also pointed out that the student had previously been held in a single-person cell at the detention centre.

In February, a new case was opened against the student. According to the support group, he is accused of participating in mass riots (Part 2, Article 212 of the Criminal Code). As suggests Asaulenko, the case is connected to an uprising at the juvenile correctional facility where Turbin was serving his sentence. She noted that information about the uprising appeared in January, but there has been no official confirmation.

  • Turbin was detained in 2023, when he was 15 years old. He was charged with participating in the activities of a terrorist organisation (Part 2, Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code). Security forces alleged that the student wrote to the Freedom of Russia Legion’s Telegram bot and filled out a membership application, and then, as a member of the unit, distributed leaflets entitled “Do you need a president like this?” in several apartment blocks and posted online criticism of the authorities.
  • The student admitted to handing out the leaflets but said he had done so on his own initiative and had not joined the Freedom of Russia Legion. In 2024, he was sentenced to five years in a penal colony.