Putin: 17 criminal cases were opened in the Federal Penitentiary Service on the fact of torture, over 10 people were dismissed
Photo: Vladimir Song / RIA Novosti
On the fact of torture in the system of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN), 17 criminal cases were initiated, over 10 people were dismissed. This was announced during the annual press conference by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The event was broadcast on its YouTube channel by TASS.
The President promised to look into this issue, noting that torture in colonies is a worldwide problem that requires the development of the penitentiary system.
I assure you, there is not a single investigator interested in any case. They are not connected, neither the prosecutor's office, nor the Investigative Committee, especially the places of deprivation of liberty, which are under the control of the Ministry of Justice, not even under the control of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, although this question is heard all the time
Vladimir PutinPresident of Russia
The President stressed that investigations of cases of torture in colonies “need to be brought to an end,” using the capabilities of human rights defenders, so that everyone understands that punishment for these offenses is inevitable.
Torture in the hospital
On October 5, the first video with the rape of prisoners in the hospital of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in the Saratov region appeared on the network. Then others appeared.
On the footage that got into the network, illegal actions were committed against the man. The author of the publication claimed that the victim was a prisoner, and the place of action was the Regional Tuberculosis Hospital No. 1 of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in the Saratov region.
On November 10, the human rights project Gulagu.net published new footage of torture and abuse of prisoners in the hospital. According to Gulagu.net, other convicts committed rape and torture of prisoners, who allegedly acted on the instructions of the FSIN and security forces.
According to human rights activist Vladimir Osechkin, 40 gigabytes of video of the torture of prisoners were filmed by officers of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia on official video recorders.
After that, criminal cases were initiated, the situation was taken over by the Prosecutor General's Office, the State Duma and the Federation Council. The head of the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Saratov Region, Colonel of the Internal Service Alexei Fedotov submitted a letter of resignation.
The Kremlin's reaction
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to the data on bullying in the FSIN system. On the air of RTVI, he said that he did not know if Russian President Vladimir Putin had seen a video about torture in a hospital of the Federal Penitentiary Service in the Saratov Region.
When asked by journalist Tina Kandelaki about how the head of state, Vladimir Putin, was informed about the torture, he said that they were preparing digests containing all the necessary information.
“I don’t know, maybe he saw it himself. He still has the opportunity to get acquainted with the materials on his own, ”said the spokesman and added that someone could show the president the video on his phone.
Peskov also noted that the verification investigative actions in this case were started very quickly.
Other cases made public
In July 2019, a ten-minute video was published in which employees of the Yaroslavl colony take turns beating convict Yevgeny Makarov, who is lying on the table, with rubber truncheons, and a bucket of water is poured over his head.
On February 23, 2021, new videos of torture in the colony appeared on the network. In the first recording, which was made on August 25, 2016, officers put a prisoner stripped to the waist on a desk and beat him with truncheons. According to the newspaper, the incident took place after a search in the colony. The victim, Vazha Bochorishvili, assured that the officers began to throw away food and threw his Koran on the floor, thus provoking the man's indignation. For the altercation, the prisoner was placed with a punishment cell, where he tried to commit an act of self-harm, and then taken to a class with desks, where he was beaten.
On April 12, 2017, the colony officers demanded that he go through a body search – having undressed, sit down and spread his buttocks. The man refused, after which he was beaten in the presence of at least 13 employees of the correctional institution. When the man's condition worsened, he was sent to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with severe liver damage. On May 9, 2017, the man died.
