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Prison brutality: Six Russian corrections officers arrested for battering inmate

The Russian Investigative Committee has detained six prison guards in Yaroslavl for beating up an inmate

YAROSLAVL, July 23. /TASS/. The Russian Investigative Committee for the Yaroslavl Region has detained six prison guards in Yaroslavl for beating up an inmate, the Investigative Committee’s press service reported.

"Thus far, the probe has identified all employees of the correctional facility that took part in the assault and battery of a prisoner. Six people have been arrested to date. We will submit a petition to the court, demanding that the employees be detained as a preventive measure. We are currently undertaking investigative measures to arrest the remaining suspects," the message states.

According to the Investigative Committee, the investigative bodies have conducted searches, in addition to confiscating documents at the correctional facility and in the Yaroslavl office of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service.

A Russian investigative newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, was the first to report on the assault. A 10-minute video was published, provided by the lawyers of the Public Verdict Foundation. The video shows people dressed in the Federal Penitentiary Service uniform verbally abusing and beating a man. According to the foundation’s lawyers, the individual in the video is Evgeniy Makarov, a prisoner at the correctional facility.

On July 20, the Regional Investigation Office filed criminal charges for official misconduct. According to the probe, employees of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service dealt multiple blows "with their hands, feet and unidentified objects to the prisoner’s torso and limbs" on the premises of the Yaroslavl correctional facility №1. The investigation is currently identifying people involved in the crime.