Participants in torturing prisoners scandalously tried in Irkutsk

“I, Lemov Ruslan Romanovich, am not against the publication in MK of my story about torture in the PKU SIZO No. 1 in Irkutsk,” such a statement was written by a prisoner in the courtroom during one of the trials of his tormentors. This step required courage on his part, because not everyone would dare to tell such a thing.

A large cage in the hall of the Kuibyshev District Court of Irkutsk is divided into two parts. One has two prisoners and the other has two prisoners. The former (among them Lemov) were the victims, the latter were their tormentors.

Lemov’s story is unique not because it dismantles the cruelty of the convicts-“developers” (we wrote about such prisoners more than once), but because it highlights the characters of some jailers. Lemov lay on the floor of the cell for three days, covered with a sheet. The SIZO staff, including doctors, saw him in such a state, someone even kicked him (to make sure he was still alive?). And none of them are accused in this case, and fortune even smiled at some of them – they were promoted …

This material, perhaps, will restore justice (please consider it an official appeal to the court and the prosecutor’s office).

An unprecedented case in the history of modern judicial Russia – at the same time in the Irkutsk region there is a whole series of trials related to the prison system. They were launched largely thanks to the Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia, Tatyana Moskalkova, after the former convicts got to see her and talked about what was happening in the region.

In the dock are former heads of local pre-trial detention centers and colonies, accused of a variety of crimes (mainly corruption), as well as prisoners who tortured and raped other prisoners. Here, for example, is the last case that just got to court: the ex-head of SIZO No. 6 of the Irkutsk Region, Alexei Ivanov, is accused of exceeding his official powers (the investigation believes that he received 55 thousand rubles from the imprisoned property in exchange for easier conditions) .

But among all these cases, I would single out the story of 30-year-old convict Ruslan Lemov. I must say right away that he is far from being a dandelion boy. We judge more than once, and the last – for an attempted murder on a drunken bench. He pleaded guilty in court and received 7 years. He had to serve his sentence in the notorious Angarsk colony No. 15, where a fire broke out and then a riot (the former head of the colony Vereshchak is now accused of taking a bribe on an especially large scale). Recall that the convicts from there were taken to several pre-trial detention centers, where they were beaten. Our “hero” was taken to SIZO No. 1 in Irkutsk. And here’s how things unfolded.

Lemov and another prisoner were placed in cell no. 128. There were already “developers” Makhmudov and Golikov, who immediately attacked him, tied him up with sheets. They dragged him to the corner between the window and the bed, away from the front door. They tortured him for several hours while he was tied up, demanding confessions of participation in the riots in the Angarsk colony (it is unlikely that they themselves needed this, you will agree).

It’s time for the evening check. In general, according to the instructions, during it all the prisoners go out into the corridor, and the employees of the new shift, the operative and the doctor enter the cell. They conduct an inspection, tap the walls with wooden mallets (to understand if the bars on the windows are sawn, if there are holes and hiding places). In the case of Lemov, the officers saw him lying on the floor and … moved on. Although no, one of the employees (he led the entire check) came up and kicked with his foot – is he still alive or what?

“And after this check, sexual acts were committed,” says Petr Kuryanov, Lemov’s defender. – That is, before the check, he was only beaten, and after that they were also abused. We are sure that the “developers” were instructed to rape. And for two more days Lemov lay under the bed. He could not walk because his heels were beaten off. But the employees were not interested in this, no one provided medical assistance to him. Only two weeks later, Lemov was transferred to another cell, since they lost all interest in him (he gave the testimony that was needed).

Another convict named Yurchenko told about stories of mass violence in the pre-trial detention center (it was he who met with Moskalkova). And so the investigation came to the victims, among whom was Lemov. As a result, a criminal case was initiated under article 132 of the Criminal Code “Violent actions of a sexual nature”, two convicts-developers are accused. But none of the employees were involved. Although Lemov describes in detail who entered the cell where he lay bound. Among them, detective U.

Moreover, Lemov says that he also threatened him: “W. said to me: “Are you insolent. Now you’re going to have sex. I perceived this threat as real, since violent acts had already been committed against me..

Oper went on promotion, now he works in the Federal Penitentiary Service.

Another surname that Lemov calls is Vereshchak. This is the son of the former head of the Angarsk colony. By the way, during the period when a criminal case was opened against the pope and placed in a pre-trial detention center, Vereshchak Jr. worked in this particular detention center. It turned out: the father is sitting, the son is guarding …

But back to Lemov. During the period when he was being bullied, Vereshchak oversaw just this block of the pre-trial detention center, that is, he was responsible for everything that happens there. At a minimum, he had to report to the leadership about the beating of Lemov and demand help from the doctors. He didn’t. The protocols of confrontations between Lemov and Vereshchak and other employees show that the jailers were definitely aware of what was happening.

In the criminal case, there are testimonies confirming this from other prisoners (out of desperation, they were forced to silently look at the bullying of Lemov, but tried to help him – they dragged him to the toilet, because he could not walk).

Simultaneously with Lemov, another convict was beaten and raped in the same cell 128 (he is just the second victim in this case). And here is how the witness says about them in his testimony: “He also could not go to the test, and Lemov did not go to the test. They were lying on the check right here (he pointed to the place with his hand). They just threw sheets on them. I don’t know how they reacted that there were two bodies.”.

It would seem logical to hold employees accountable under Article 286 of the Criminal Code (“Abuse of power”). But that hasn’t happened yet. Moreover, the district prosecutor refused to question seven witnesses in court. The deputy prosecutor of the region, who approved the charges, considered that they needed to be interrogated, but the district prosecutor, it turns out, did not.

“And now there is not a word about the employees in court,” says Kuryanov. – Then there will be one excuse for all complaints – like the court considered all this and did not see the corpus delicti. At the meetings, it sounds that the employees allegedly did not see the bound and beaten Lemov and the second victim. But it was the operatives who were present at all these checks of cell No. 128. It seems that there is reason to believe that employees will evade responsibility.