Russian Prison Guards Filmed Punching Inmates

Story ByAnastasia Smirnova, Sub EditorJoseph Golder,AgencyCentral European News 

Video Credit: CEN/gulagu.net

This is the moment Russian prison guards are filmed punching inmates as they force them out of their cell for an inspection and the footage has been slammed by human rights activists.

The incident took place at prison number four that is located in the town of Anzhero-Sudzhensk in south-central Russia’s Kemerovo Oblast region.

In the footage, six inmates can be seen leaving their joint cell as guards line up either side to punch them as they walk out. The guards then go into the 21-square-metre (226-square-foot) cell and lift the floorboards as they search for contraband.

Picture Credit: CEN/gulagu.net

Russian media report that the video was taken in 2017 but it has only recently been published. The prisoners reportedly only have four square metres (43 square feet) to themselves in the prison.

Vladimir Osechkin, who works for a human rights group called gulagu.net, has submitted the video to the Chairman of Russia’s Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin, 66, General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation Yury Chaika, 68, as well as to the head of the Federal Penitentiary Service Alexander Kalashnikov, 55, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kemerovo Region.

He said in an exclusive interview with Central European News (CEN): “Unfortunately we get complaints about the violation of the legal rights of prisoners. Many complaints contain information about systematic humiliation, unjustified use of violence and torture against prisoners in pre-trial detention centres and colonies.

Picture Credit: CEN/gulagu.net

“This recorded video shows that prison employees methodically beat inmates, they perform a ritual that is not officially prescribed in departmental orders, but is an integral part of their work, their daily routine at work.”

He said the guards had abused the inmates and added: “Since Gulag times, the prison has been refining for incompetent investigations, helping prosecutors convince prisoners to plead guilty in court, and it is in exchange for this illegal service that prosecutors and investigators often “turn a blind eye” to complaints from prisoners about torture.

“The problem can be solved systematically only by abolishing the Main Operational Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service and all operational departments in pre-trial detention centres and colonies, and breaking the prison from the investigation.”

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