Defendant cuts himself in Urals courtroom

In the Sinarsky District Court of Kamensk-Uralsky (Sverdlovsk Region), a defendant tried to kill himself in front of the judge. He was bandaged and an ambulance was called. The incident occurred on 30 July during the reading of a ruling extending his arrest.

The man who cut himself and four others were accused of attempting to destabilize order at Penal Colony No. 47 (IK-47). This happened back in March 2021. But five years later, a verdict has still not been handed down.

Some have already served their sentences for several years, but they are not being released. The case was once returned to the prosecutor«s office, and there was also an acquittal, which was overturned.

“The guy who cut himself had already served his sentence and was free. After the acquittal, he was released and was at home. But then the case was returned to court and he was taken into custody again. He asked to be released on a written undertaking or under house arrest. Because he himself is disabled, his mother has cancer, his father is elderly. He asked to be allowed to go home so he could help his parents,” a source familiar with the matter told E1.RU.

According to the source, the situation then developed rapidly. When the judge began reading the ruling and the defendant was again remanded in custody, he tried to kill himself. The man was disarmed in time and bandaged.

“He was given assistance, an ambulance was called, his life is not in danger. It looked more like an act of desperation,” the source said.

We sent a request to the joint press service of the courts; we will update the information as soon as we receive a response.

Updated:

On 30 July 2026, at the Sinarsky District Court of Kamensk-Uralsky, after the reading of a ruling extending the measure of restraint under Article 255 of the Russian Criminal Procedure Code, the defendant Golenkov scratched his arm with a ballpoint pen. Convoy officers called an ambulance and bandaged the wound. There was no danger or threat to his life.

We described in detail why the ringleaders cannot be convicted after five years in our previous article. The victims say they have no claims against them and that the real culprits should be tried, naming their surnames.

Recall that the riot in the colony began on 28 March 2021: inmates cut their forearms. They claimed that they were being beaten and threatened with rape. After the unrest was suppressed, a criminal case was opened against eight inmates.

According to the regional branch of the Federal Penitentiary Service (GUFSIN), the riot participants were repeat offenders serving sentences for serious and especially serious crimes.

Read about the conclusions reached by members of the Public Monitoring Commission (ONK) who spoke with the rioting inmates at IK-47, and what they told human rights advocates.