MOSCOW, August 2 (RAPSI) – The Investigative Committee of Russia has brought charges against 12 employees of the Yaroslavl Penal Colony One as part of the criminal case over notorious beating and torture of an inmate, the press-service of the Committee has stated.

Names of the defendants are: Maksim Yablokov, Igor Bogdanov, Ruslan Tsvetkov, Alexey Brovkin, Dmitry Solovyov, Sergey Drachev, Ivan Kalashnikov, Serget Yefremov, Alexander Morozov, Andrey Zybin, Alexey Andreyev and Alexey Mikityuk.

Eight of the defendants have already been placed in detention while head of the correctional department of the penal colony Kalashnikov was put under house arrest.

The case is classified as abuse of office involving use of violence case, which is being investigated by the main directorate of the Investigative Committee. The crime may be punished by a prison term of up to 10 years.

Earlier, Novaya Gazeta newspaper published a video showing an inmate being tortured by some persons wearing grey camouflage uniforms. Later, it was revealed that the victim in the video had been identified as Yevgeny Makarov, who is serving his term in the Yaroslavl penal colony. The video was filmed by one of the staff members according to lawyers representing Makarov.

Irina Biryukova, the inmate’s attorney, who handed the footage to the media, has asked the Federal Chamber of Attorneys to ensure her safety because of threats from the prison staff. She also announced that she was leaving Russia.

The Chairman of the Presidential Council for Human Rights Mikhail Fedotov visited the penal colony on July 23. The Council filed its reports to the Investigative Committee and the General Prosecutor’s Office.