ROSTOV-ON-DON. Nov 29 (Interfax) - A criminal case has been opened in the Rostov region over the beating of an inmate at a local penitentiary. The beating video was posted online.
The regional department of the Federal Penitentiaries Service said on Thursday that the video showing several men in dark-blue uniforms beating an inmate of the tenth penitentiary in the Rostov region was posted online on Wednesday.
The victim was a man born in 1992 and sentenced to 3.5 years for assault and robbery. He rejected the penitentiary rules and refused to change his clothes to the prison uniform. The man was brought to the penitentiary from the Novocherkassk detention facility on April 4, 2012.
"The convict was taken to the penitentiary security office, where physical violence was used against him. The officers obviously abused their authority and seriously violated rights of the convict," the department said.
The entire episode was filmed with a video camera.
Six officers of the penitentiary took part in the beating. Three of them were detained.
Two more officers had been fired from the penitentiary before the video was posted online.
The incident was verified and materials were presented to the Rostov regional department of the Russian Investigative Committee. A criminal case was opened over the abuse of authority.