Prosecutor's Office deals with complaints of inmates beaten in Kalmyk colony

An inspector of the Investigatory Department of the RF's Investigatory Committee for Kalmykia refused four times to initiate a criminal case on applications lodged by parents of the inmates beaten by the employees of the colony-settlement Tsagan-Usn, located in the Yashkul District. However, his rejection statements were cancelled by a higher body. In the end, the prosecutor's office has demanded to eliminate the reasons and conditions that promote violations and to punish those guilty.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 1 seven inmates of the colony-settlement, located in Tsagan-Usn village, Yashkul District, were beaten by the colony wardens. Inmates of Corrective Colony OL 27/3, located in Kalmykia, are beaten by employees of the Federal Corrective Service (the so-called "UFSIN") on a regular basis. This was reported by public activist Valery Badmaev who referred to inmates' complaints stating that they are beaten almost weekly and without any grounds.

On January 1, seven prisoners - Tseren Bambaev, Mingiyan Karteev, Sergey Okonov, Valery Manakov, Sergey Barkhaev, Yuri Ochirov and Anatoly Badmaev, employees of the colony-settlement, were beaten for several hours. Because of numerous received traumas, Valery Manakov, 20, could not move by himself for more than a week.

Many inmates and their relatives filed applications to the Republic's Prosecutor's Office.

The administration of the Tsagan-Usn colony-settlement (its code is FBU IK-3) has confirmed the application of "special means" against the inmates. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told that "the measure was caused by the inmates' alcoholic intoxication."

The check conducted by A. Churyumov, senior assistant of the Public Prosecutor of Kalmykia in charge of supervising the legality of punishment enforcement, has revealed that the operative on duty officer named Dzhapov, together with the on duty colony staff, had used rubber truncheons and physical violence against the inmates. At the same time, in breach of Article 116 of RF's Correctional Code, no medical examination of suspected inmates for use of alcohol was made, as the Prosecutor's Office has concluded.

Valery Badmaev told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the situation in the Tsagan-Usn colony-settlement should be urgently addressed, as for a long time the colony staff had been unreasonably using special means and violence against inmates. Physical sufferings force inmates to resort to extreme actions. Suicide attempts are frequent in this corrective colony, Mr Badmaev has noted.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has also learnt that inmates' relatives tremble for their lives and state that several inmates died in the colony under rather strange circumstances, which cause doubts that these deaths were natural.