A convict whose violent beating by prison guards was caught on video and led to a mass outcry over prison torture in Russia has been placed in solitary confinement for allegedly refusing to clean a prison bathroom on camera, reports a prison watchdog group.
The video showing the torture of Yevgeny Makarov at a Yaroslavl penal colony in 2017 was leaked to the press by his lawyer last month and led to the arrest of six guards. The case spurred a series of abuse investigations at correctional facilities, including a promise by Russian officials to carry out a nationwide inspection to root out violence.
Makarov has been placed in solitary confinement for refusing to clean the bathroom while being filmed, an activity he was asked to do as part of a humiliation ritual, the Public Verdict prison watchdog group on Tuesday.
Public Verdict accused officials with Penal Colony-8 of exploiting “prison subculture” — including informal rules where being filmed cleaning the latrine is looked down upon — to intimidate inmates.
“Humiliation forced Makarov to refuse, and this became a formal reason for disciplinary punishment,” Public Verdict said.
Yaroslavl region prison officials told state-run TASS news agency that Makarov was punished for “refusing to comply with the administration’s legitimate demands to clean the cell.”
Twelve former Penal Colony-1 guards and one former regional investigator face investigation for abuse of power in the case of Makarov’s torture.
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