The founder of the human rights project Vladimir Osechkin Gulagu.net addressed an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling for an investigation into the torture of prisoners and tougher punishment for them. Human rights activists also suggest releasing convicts who have been forced to self-incriminate and tortured, Ekho Kavkaza reports.

In recent weeks, the Gulagu.net project has published several videos of people being tortured in Russian prisons, detention centers and other FSIN facilities. Human rights activists say they have a huge video archive of torture at their disposal, and these publications will continue.


In his letter, Osechkin particularly urged Putin to ask Russian Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov and Head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin to personally verify over 200 Gulagu.net appeals from 2014-2021 about the murders and torture of over 100 prisoners. Osechkin said that it is necessary to investigate the facts of "multi-billion dollar embezzlement" in the Federal Security Service and the Federal Penitentiary Service, as well as the involvement of employees of these agencies in some scams and failures of the State Defense Order.


Human rights activists also suggest that Putin broadcast a film investigation of the "torture conveyor belt" on federal television.


Osechkin also demands that an investigation be opened into the actions of FSB and FSIN employees who "abused their office and participated in falsifying evidence against human rights defenders. It is also proposed that all those involved in the information attacks and campaigns to discredit Gulagu.net be fired from the Russian presidential administration, the FSB, the FSIN, and the NTV, Rossiya and REN-TV TV channels. The Russian authorities are demanded to abandon the "illegal criminal prosecution" of the coordinators of Gulagu.net and Sibiry Pravovaya, as well as the informant Sergey Savelyev. The letter contains a total of 21 sentences.


The author of the letter wonders whether Putin is aware of what is happening in the Federal Penitentiary Service system, and if so, whether he has personally sanctioned the torture of prisoners.


"The scale of torture, corruption, inhumane treatment, and murder is mind-boggling, and the world will see it and know it regardless of the will of those involved in these mass crimes," Osechkin declares.


The information about tortures in Saratov colonies and regional TB hospital of FSIN became known at the beginning of October. At that time the human rights project Gulagu.net reported that it had received a video archive of the department with recordings of rapes and beatings of inmates from programmer Sergey Savelyev who had earlier cooperated with FSIN. Part of the archive was published in the media and sent to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture.


After the archive was published, the Investigative Committee opened several criminal cases for abuse of power, and the head of the Saratov Federal Penitentiary Service, Alexei Fedotov, resigned.


However, later the FSB and the Russian Interior Ministry put Sergei Savelyev on the wanted list and also announced the preparation of documents for his arrest and extradition. Allegedly, the programmer disclosed data that constituted official secrets. Saveliev is now in France, where he is being considered for political asylum.