18:31, 13 March 2023

Activist from Astrakhan faces employment problem after release

Konstantin Zavalin. Photo by Vyacheslav Yaschenko for the "Caucasian Knot"

After serving his sentence in the form of forced labour, Konstantin Zavalin, an Astrakhan activist, was not given his work record book; and this prevents him from reinstatement at work. A lawyer asserts that the work record book should be given out to the convict after his release.

On June 23, 2022, a court in Astrakhan sentenced Zavalin to 1.5 years of forced labour, finding him guilty of assaulting a policeman during detention.

Konstantin Zavalin was detained on March 2, 2022, in a garage where he was repairing a car. A protocol was drawn up against him for disobeying the police. The activist claimed law enforcers' illegal actions, but he himself was accused of assaulting a policeman.

In December 2022, Zavalin complained that the bosses of the correctional centre assigned him the status of a persistent violator for refusing to work without overalls and protective means. However, Sergey Ivaschenko, a lawyer, confirmed that Konstantin's demands were legitimate.

Zavalin has noted that he is unaware of where his work record book is now.

"Most likely, I won't be able to find a normal job in Astrakhan, since I'm on the 'black list.' There have already been precedents when people who went against the system, after being released from colony, failed to find any employment here and had to move to other regions," he said.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 12, 2023 at 03:06 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Vyacheslav Yaschenko

Source: СK correspondent