Lefortovo Prison (Russian: Лефортовская тюрьма, IPA: [lʲɪˈfortəvə] ⓘ) is a prisoninMoscow, Russia, which has been under the jurisdiction of the Russian Ministry of Justice since 2005.
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| Location | Moscow, Russia |
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| Coordinates | 55°45′40″N 37°42′22″E / 55.7611407°N 37.7062039°E / 55.7611407; 37.7062039 |
| Status | operational |
| Security class | detention center |
| Opened | 1881 |
| Managed by | Ministry of Justice of the RF |
The prison was built in 1881 in the Lefortovo District of Moscow, named after François Le Fort, a close associate of Tsar Peter I the Great.
In the Soviet Union, during Joseph Stalin's 1936–38 Great Purge, Lefortovo Prison was used by the NKVD secret police for mass executions and interrogational torture.[1] Later Lefortovo was an infamous KGB prison and interrogation site (called an "investigative isolator", or СИЗО: следственный изолятор) for political prisoners.
In 1994, the prison was transferred to the MVD; from 1996 to 2005, it was under the jurisdiction of the FSB, a KGB successor agency. The prison is said to have strict detention conditions. Only visits by lawyers are allowed. Letters can be received but are read by prison officials.[2]
Ten months later, Berg remains detained in Moscow's high-security Lefortovo prison, still not officially charged but facing the possibility of 20 years behind bars.