The Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia in the Yaroslavl Region of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has instituted a criminal case on abuse of authority with the use of violence after promulgation of a 10-minute videotape, at which the staff of IK-1 beat up the unconscious prisoner Yevgeny Makarov. About carrying out of service check also reported in the regional UFSIN. Earlier, the lawyers of the Public Verdict Foundation announced the torture of this, as well as two more convicts, and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) asked Russia to take urgent measures on the complaints of the victims. Then the UFSIN and the SS of the TFR declared that there had been no confirmation of the beatings.

Today, the SU RAS for the Yaroslavl region has organized a procedural check after the advocates of the human rights fund "Public Verdict" disseminated a video of torture in the correctional colony No. 1. This was reported to Kommersant by the official representative of the SB RAS for the region, Christina Guzovskaya. Initially, a ten-minute video, filmed, apparently, on a video recorder of one of the colony's employees, was published by Novaya Gazeta. The video depicts the beating of a 23-year-old prisoner Evgeni Makarov, Kommersant's lawyer Irina Biryukova told Kommersant.

The Investigative Committee of Russia in the Yaroslavl Region initiated proceedings under Art. 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Excess of official authority") on the fact of beating a convicted person.

The official control was initiated by the management of the FSIN in the Yaroslavl region, the press service of the ministry reported. "Based on the results of the audit, it will be decided to bring the perpetrators to justice," the official press release said. The Commissioner for Human Rights in the Yaroslavl region, Sergey Baburkin, told Kommersant that he will also check the incident.

The video of the beating of Evgeny Makarov was filmed on June 29, 2017, Mrs. Biryukova said. The record shows that in a room with white-green walls there are about 15 men in blue camouflage uniforms. The prisoner lies on his stomach on the narrow tables pulled to each other and screams. Some men hold his hands, others actively beat rubber truncheons mainly on the heels. At some point, the convict is torn off his clothes, put on his knees and continues to be tortured. He is told that this is a punishment for calling a colony employee a "red-haired woman". When the victim loses consciousness from the pain, it is rinsed with water from a bucket. In the tenth minute, the recording ends.

According to lawyers, the torture was preceded by a search in the cell of Yevgeny Makarov, and the conflict arose after the colony employees threw a letter to the mother of the convict on the floor.
After beating the prisoner, the lawyer was not allowed to visit him "on medical grounds": it turned out that he could not walk, and his wounds were festering.

The lawyers of the "Public Verdict" claimed torture in IK-1 in the Yaroslavl region last spring. Then they represented the interests of the convict on the "swamp business" of Ivan Nepomnyashchikh, as well as Evgeni Makarov and Ruslan Vakhapov. According to the prisoners, on April 21 spetsnaz came to the colony. The prisoners were required to run out of the cells and build themselves against the wall. Some were immediately placed in a stretch and started beating. Ivan Nepomnyashchikh refused to flee, so he was forced several times to return to the cell and run out of it, and then beat him. At the same time, Makarov and Vakhapov were also beaten. The next day, Sergei Baburkin, the human rights commissioner in the Yaroslavl region, came to the colony, then "Kommersant" was told in the ombudsman's office. According to Irina Biryukova, he met Ruslan Vakhapov and Evgeny Makarov, learned from them about beating and even photographed bruises. The UFSIN in the Yaroslavl region was then told that there was a planned search. The service stressed that Ivan Nepomnyashchikh was not beaten, and he was used to "bend his hand behind his back." At the same time, lawyers wrote a complaint to the ECHR.

The European Court already on April 28 demanded that Russia take urgent measures, allow lawyers to meet with convicts, and conduct a medical examination. "Makarov was also beaten in December 2017. And already in another colony, IK-8, where he was transferred at the end of 2017. We believe that in IK-1 they decided to get rid of it so much, "says Mrs. Biryukova.

According to all the allegations of beatings, the verification was carried out by representatives of the TFR, as well as the prosecutor's office for the supervision of correctional facilities. "The TFR refused to initiate criminal proceedings on all cases. The last refusal came this year. According to the statement of torture on June 29, recorded on video, two or three employees of the colony were checked on a polygraph, and found nothing, "the lawyer points out.

Now, the "Public Verdict" is preparing its response to the ECHR with comments on the replies of the Russian government. "A letter from the ECHR has recently come to us with the attached replies from Russia. In a nutshell, the government explained that the force was applied within the law due to the fact that the convicts did not fulfill the lawful demands of the colony's employees, "says Ms. Biryukova. She stressed that they will necessarily send a video to Strasbourg with the relevant comments.

State Duma deputy Sergei Shargunov said on his Facebook page that he sent a request to the Russian Prosecutor General's Office asking him to join the investigation. "We need a tough reaction from the federal center, and not just the promises of the local Fsinovites" to start checking. " All those who were tortured should be held criminally responsible. Head of the colony - take off. Otherwise, our places of imprisonment will remain a hell on earth, "Mr. Shargunov said. He noted that in the State Duma he wrote a draft law authorizing employees of the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman in Russia to visit prisons and camps on behalf of the ombudsman. But so far this document is not being considered.