Inside Shusha prison: A journalist’s account of alleged torture

A new AnewZ documentary, 'Inside Shusha prison', highlights what is considered one of the most dreadful prisons during both the Russian Empire and the Soviet era.

The film builds a harrowing case based on the testimony of former Azerbaijani prisoners of war and the findings of Lithuanian war journalist Richardas Lapaitis, who has spent years investigating what allegedly happened behind the institution's iron doors.

Walking through abandoned cells, narrow corridors and punishment chambers, Lapaitis describes the prison as one of the most terrifying places from Soviet times. He says the accounts he collected from former detainees have haunted him for years and compelled him to return to Shusha to document the site.

A prison few were expected to leave

According to Lapaitis's account, Azerbaijani prisoners of war and civilians were held in overcrowded cells, deprived of adequate food, exposed to freezing temperatures and subjected to repeated physical abuse.

Lapaitis says there were no effective legal protections for the detainees and that fundamental humanitarian principles were systematically violated.

Former prisoners told Lapaitis that Armenians whose relatives had been killed were allegedly permitted to enter the prison and attack Azerbaijani detainees.

According to their testimony, the visitors struck the metal bars with rods before entering the cells, warning the prisoners that another beating was about to begin.

He claims some of the abuses occurred despite the presence of international humanitarian organisations. However, the film does not include responses to these allegations from Armenian authorities or organisations like the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The 'coffin in the wall'

Another disturbing moment in the documentary focuses on a narrow chamber that former prisoners reportedly called the “coffin in the wall”.

The confined space has almost no light, ventilation or room to move. A heavy metal grille appears to have been used to seal the entrance. The entrance is so small that Lapaitis struggles to climb inside. Once in the chamber, he cannot stand upright, despite being only 1.70 metres tall.

According to their accounts, captives placed in the chamber were bitten by rats, had their fingernails removed and were subjected to other forms of torture.

Some reportedly emerged with severe psychological trauma, while others suffered frostbite, kidney damage and long-term physical injuries.

One bucket for an entire cell

Sanitation conditions were also described as inhumane. Lapaitis points to a bucket that, according to former prisoners, served as the only toilet for all detainees held in one section of the facility.

There was reportedly no sewage system, while food was passed through a small opening in the wall. The journalist questions how prisoners could have received enough food to survive through such a narrow gap.

He says detainees were treated as though they had no names, identities, histories or futures.

A hidden letter and a piece of bread

The journalist later discovers a torn letter concealed inside a gap in one of the prison walls.

He says the first word he can understand appears to mean “groan”, which he interprets as the cry of a person’s soul. Near the letter, he notices what appears to be an old piece of bread.

The discovery reminds him of the account of a detainee named Mushvig, who was allegedly forced to work in a canteen used by Armenian personnel. According to Lapaitis, Mushvig sometimes stole pieces of bread, hid them inside his boot and carried them back to other prisoners.

In Inside Shusha prison, Lapaitis compares the facility with some of the darkest detention sites and episodes of modern history. Behind his investigation and discoveries of the prison's storied past, AnewZ presents this film as a lost story that needs to be told to the world. 

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