In November 2023, after arriving at a cold Siberian jail, Nariman Dzhelyal, a prominent Crimean Tatar community leader, survived on nothing but bread and a simple gruel.
As a devoted Muslim, Dzhelyal found most meals served to him contained pork, which is strictly forbidden in Islam.
“I only ate bread, which was of poor quality, along with tea,” Dzhelyal said. The Crimean Tatar was serving a 17-year sentence for alleged crimes that Ukraine contends were orchestrated by the Kremlin, including the bombing of a natural gas pipeline and smuggling explosives. He denied these accusations.
Within days of his arrival in Minusinsk, his food choices improved somewhat, with breakfasts being tasteless gruel, suppers with fish, and the presence of pork limited to just one lunch dish.
However, dietary issues are far from being the most significant problem that thousands of Muslim prisoners face in Russia’s notoriously harsh prison system.
For nearly a century, Russian and Soviet jails have been described as a shadowy underworld, governed by unspoken rules.
Seasoned criminals known as “crowned thieves” or “the black caste” maintain a ruthless and strict hierarchy, often marked by elaborate tattoos and a specific language. They control “black prisons,” where corruption is rampant, and wardens often turn a blind eye to drug smuggling, gambling, and violence.
“Red prisons,” on the other hand, are controlled by prison officials. Here, prisoners complain of inhumane conditions, including torture and malnutrition.
In the past two decades, however, a new dynamic has emerged in Russia’s prisons as thousands of Muslims have been convicted of terrorism, extremism, or other related crimes.
Muslims represent about 15 percent of Russia’s 143 million population and the same percentage within the prison population – about 31,000 out of 206,000 inmates, Russian Mufti Albir Krganov reported in November 2024.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the prison population has decreased by more than half, which may include Muslims who volunteered or were recruited in exchange for pardons.
Human rights groups and media suggest that Russian convicts who convert to Islam are automatically listed as terror suspects and may have their sentences extended due to “extremism.”
“If a convict converts to Orthodox Christianity and gets baptized, he’ll be celebrated,” said Anna Karetnikova, a former analyst with the Federal Service for Execution of Punishment, Russia’s main correctional facility overseer. “But when someone converts to Islam, he ‘will be listed as prone to extremism,’ his prison’s administration will be punished, and intelligence services will pay special attention to him.”
Muslim migrants from Central Asia who travel to Russia for work are particularly vulnerable to criminal prosecution due to their limited knowledge of Russian laws and customs, rights groups say. Some have been forced to fight in Ukraine, while others claim that law enforcement targets and frames them for crimes committed by others.
Arnold, a construction worker in Moscow, reported that police had planted synthetic drugs known as “spice” on his younger brother, Abdmumin, in 2022. After Abdmumin was electrocuted and beaten into confessing to hiding drug stashes, he was sentenced to 5.5 years in the Ural Mountains. However, “green” inmates (Muslim convicts) in his prison protected him.
Some Russian prisons are ill-equipped to accommodate Muslim inmates, with restrictive schedules that can interfere with prayer times and make Ramadan fasting difficult.
Nonetheless, there are efforts to educate prison staff about Islam and the mentality of Muslim inmates.
Azat GaiNutdinov, an ethnic Tatar who converted to Islam in prison and founded a rights group, emphasized the importance of teaching prison staff the basics of Islam and understanding the inmates they work with.
Conditions in prison often depend on the specific institution. In Minusinsk, where Dzhelyal served, wardens were more lenient. Muslims there were allowed to pray and eat Ramadan meals in their cells and could access the Quran and other Muslim books from the prison library.
Some jailed Muslims resist engaging in illicit activities during their incarceration, refusing to partake in the criminal hierarchy that often conflicts with Muslim norms, according to Dzhelyal.
As a devoted Muslim, Dzhelyal found most meals served to him contained pork, which is strictly forbidden in Islam.
“I only ate bread, which was of poor quality, along with tea,” Dzhelyal said. The Crimean Tatar was serving a 17-year sentence for alleged crimes that Ukraine contends were orchestrated by the Kremlin, including the bombing of a natural gas pipeline and smuggling explosives. He denied these accusations.
Within days of his arrival in Minusinsk, his food choices improved somewhat, with breakfasts being tasteless gruel, suppers with fish, and the presence of pork limited to just one lunch dish.
However, dietary issues are far from being the most significant problem that thousands of Muslim prisoners face in Russia’s notoriously harsh prison system.
For nearly a century, Russian and Soviet jails have been described as a shadowy underworld, governed by unspoken rules.
Seasoned criminals known as “crowned thieves” or “the black caste” maintain a ruthless and strict hierarchy, often marked by elaborate tattoos and a specific language. They control “black prisons,” where corruption is rampant, and wardens often turn a blind eye to drug smuggling, gambling, and violence.
“Red prisons,” on the other hand, are controlled by prison officials. Here, prisoners complain of inhumane conditions, including torture and malnutrition.
In the past two decades, however, a new dynamic has emerged in Russia’s prisons as thousands of Muslims have been convicted of terrorism, extremism, or other related crimes.
Muslims represent about 15 percent of Russia’s 143 million population and the same percentage within the prison population – about 31,000 out of 206,000 inmates, Russian Mufti Albir Krganov reported in November 2024.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the prison population has decreased by more than half, which may include Muslims who volunteered or were recruited in exchange for pardons.
Human rights groups and media suggest that Russian convicts who convert to Islam are automatically listed as terror suspects and may have their sentences extended due to “extremism.”
“If a convict converts to Orthodox Christianity and gets baptized, he’ll be celebrated,” said Anna Karetnikova, a former analyst with the Federal Service for Execution of Punishment, Russia’s main correctional facility overseer. “But when someone converts to Islam, he ‘will be listed as prone to extremism,’ his prison’s administration will be punished, and intelligence services will pay special attention to him.”
Muslim migrants from Central Asia who travel to Russia for work are particularly vulnerable to criminal prosecution due to their limited knowledge of Russian laws and customs, rights groups say. Some have been forced to fight in Ukraine, while others claim that law enforcement targets and frames them for crimes committed by others.
Arnold, a construction worker in Moscow, reported that police had planted synthetic drugs known as “spice” on his younger brother, Abdmumin, in 2022. After Abdmumin was electrocuted and beaten into confessing to hiding drug stashes, he was sentenced to 5.5 years in the Ural Mountains. However, “green” inmates (Muslim convicts) in his prison protected him.
Some Russian prisons are ill-equipped to accommodate Muslim inmates, with restrictive schedules that can interfere with prayer times and make Ramadan fasting difficult.
Nonetheless, there are efforts to educate prison staff about Islam and the mentality of Muslim inmates.
Azat GaiNutdinov, an ethnic Tatar who converted to Islam in prison and founded a rights group, emphasized the importance of teaching prison staff the basics of Islam and understanding the inmates they work with.
Conditions in prison often depend on the specific institution. In Minusinsk, where Dzhelyal served, wardens were more lenient. Muslims there were allowed to pray and eat Ramadan meals in their cells and could access the Quran and other Muslim books from the prison library.
Some jailed Muslims resist engaging in illicit activities during their incarceration, refusing to partake in the criminal hierarchy that often conflicts with Muslim norms, according to Dzhelyal.
