There are rioters all around: why the number of riots is growing in Russian prisons

The only thing worse than running away is rebellion. Many prisoners know this axiom. If for an escape (Article 313 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) they can even be assigned not a real term, but forced labor, then for disorganization (321 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) threatens up to 12 years in prison. So the prisoners can decide to rebel as a last resort. Then why hundreds of cases of disorganization? Either the situation in correctional institutions is getting out of control, or such cases are simply “stamped” by the security forces for some own purposes. The other day in the Nizhny Novgorod region, a trial of several “rebels” took place.

Who, why and how “rebels” – the MK columnist understood.

In the history of modern Russia, there were at least two of the loudest riots – in the Kopeysk colony No. 6 in 2012 and in the Angarsk colony No. 15 in 2020.

In the first case, the convicts climbed onto the roof of the building, holding sheets in their hands, on which they wrote in blood: “People, help!”, “We are being tortured and humiliated.” The facts of torture were confirmed, and Denis Mekhanov, head of the colony, soon found himself in the dock. I was at several sessions of his trial and heard the testimonies of the convicts about how they were beaten, raped, tortured.

Mekhanov was given three years probation, but the instigators of the riot (11 people were found guilty of organizing mass riots) – from 2 years 8 months to 5 years in prison.

The story of the riot in the Angarsk colony is not over yet, but cases have already been initiated against the organizers of the riot and against the jailers who gave orders to rape prisoners (according to our data, about 300 prisoners became victims of sexual violence). Interestingly, the case of organizing a riot will be considered in court earlier than the case of torture of the prisoners who organized it …

Both stories show a sad trend: even when it is accurately confirmed that the riot was the only necessary measure to attract attention, the participants will still be punished. But this, it turns out, is not the worst thing. The prisoner will receive a sentence under 321 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, even if he was not going to make any disturbances. At the same time, there are no acquittals under this article in Russia. However, in some cases, the courts, understanding the situation, give very short terms. So, for example, it happened in the Nizhny Novgorod region.

HELP MK:

The number of those convicted under Art. 321 UK

For the first half of 2022 – 192 people:

– according to part 1 of Art. 321 of the Criminal Code – 15 people.

– according to part 2 of Art. 321 of the Criminal Code – 158 people.

according to part 3 of Art. 321 of the Criminal Code – 19 people.

For the first half of 2021 – 155 people:

– according to part 1 of Art. 321 of the Criminal Code – 28 people.

– according to part 2 of Art. 321 of the Criminal Code – 113 people.

– according to part 3 of Art. 321 of the Criminal Code – 14 people.

Statistics for the first half of 2022 show an increase in the number of convicts under the article under study by 23.8% compared to the same period last year.

Last Thursday, the court delivered a verdict to three guys accused of disorganizing the work of the TDF in the city of Vyksa. Although he is not acquittal, he is rather mild (I recall an anecdote about a judge who, when asked if he could imprison an innocent, answered: “Well, I would give him conditionally”). Their story began in 2018, when the trio was taken into custody on suspicion of grand theft. They were placed in pre-trial detention center No. 3 (belongs to the Federal Penitentiary Service), from where they were then taken to a temporary detention center (belongs to the Ministry of Internal Affairs). The prisoners, let’s say, were able to negotiate with the police and became the owners of a cell phone.

A cell phone behind bars is a forbidden thing, but possession of this item becomes possible after you pay a certain fee. In general, at first there was a phone, and then it was seized. One of the men, 37-year-old Roman, asked to draw up an act and put an expensive item in a storage room. He was refused, he complained to the prosecutor’s office. The reaction to the fact that Roman “made dirty linen in public” was immediate: officers of the criminal investigation department came to the cell with a search.

“They were dressed in civilian clothes, they didn’t introduce themselves,” says one of the defendants. – They demanded to strip naked, push the buttocks and show the anus. We, of course, became indignant. Then we were all thrown into cell No. 9, where it was dark and stuffy, and even the urn was smoldering (someone had set it on fire). There is no ventilation, nothing to breathe. We started knocking on the doors.

At some point, the staff realized that this could lead to tragic consequences, opened the door, and we were taken to different cells. By that time, the entire staff of the police department was in the corridor. The police stood with batons and electric shockers. They used violence against us. We were then taken to SIZO No. 3, where we recorded injuries.

How can the use of special equipment and force be justified? Only because it was necessary. Pass it off as the suppression of a real rebellion.

“On the same day, the investigators of the Investigative Committee, without the participation of attesting witnesses and police representatives, recorded destruction in the cells – the wooden flooring on the benches, the inside of the toilet stalls were damaged,” says lawyer Leonid Orekhov. – Employees testified that the prisoners beat them. Allegedly, three employees of the criminal investigation department and one worker of the ITT were injured. The prisoners were charged with: disorganization of the activities of the institution, the use of life-threatening violence, and the threat of violence.

“You will thunder seriously and for a long time,” the policemen frightened the “rebels”. One of the men wrote a letter to the HRC asking them to look into it.

Riot cases are not the most favorite topic for lawyers, but we found lawyers who agreed to help the “disorganizers” for free. And during the trial, it was possible to prove that the men did not beat the policemen and did not even threaten them, that the law enforcement officers did not have any serious injuries (some received abrasions and bruises when they themselves used force and dragged the prisoners from the cells along the corridor).

But justify under 321 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation? This has never happened before in history. So the verdict was guilty. But the court reclassified the case from part 3 to part 2 (recognizing the harm as not life-threatening) and excluded the charge of threatening violence. As a result, instead of 12 years, which the prosecutor requested, the defendants were given from several months to 2 years.

“Very often they impute disorganization to those who ended up in the “press hut” for “breaking” and were able to find an opportunity to inform lawyers about it, and they began to write complaints and become indignant,” says former prosecutors, lawyer Aleksey Fedyarov. – There was a noise, it is necessary to curb the prisoners, but how to do this? Blame. Such Jesuitism is obtained. In general, the convicts do not need the disorganization of the work of institutions in a normal mode in and of themselves. The last person interested in this is the convicts.

“Today there are more conflicts behind bars,” says Mikhail Orsky, an expert on the criminal world. “Today, the prison authorities demand scrupulous observance of the internal regulations from the prisoners, while they themselves do not fulfill their duties. And as soon as a prisoner begins to ask about his rights, they immediately impute violations or, even worse, a riot. In general, there are fewer “denials” in the camps, and more criminal cases.