"Socialist Revolutionaries" asked the head of the Ministry of Justice Konovalov to review the procedure for searching prisoners

Deputies of the “A Just Russia” faction in the State Duma appealed to the head of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, Alexander Konovalov, with a request to reconsider the procedure for the humiliating “full search” of prisoners.

The Socialist Revolutionary faction in the State Duma of the Russian Federation, on the initiative of deputy Valery Hartung, led by Sergei Mironov and the chairman of A Just Russia, Nikolai Levichev, sent a collective request to the Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation, Alexander Konovalov, the party’s press service reports.

The request mentions a mass protest in correctional colony No. 6 in the city of Kopeysk, Chelyabinsk region, which received a great public outcry. The reason for the prisoner riot was numerous cases of bullying and humiliation.

“From the information provided by the convicts, it follows that they were repeatedly subjected to an intolerable and humiliating procedure of full search, which took place in a rude, degrading form and often had the nature of rape, which was a form of physical and
psychological impact on the “offenders,” the request notes. Many convicts reported that after such searches they found themselves in the infirmary with ruptures of internal organs and suppuration.

The procedure for conducting searches is determined by the “Manual on the organization and procedure for conducting searches and inspections in correctional institutions of the penal system, in sensitive areas, and vehicles,” approved by order of the Ministry of Justice dated August 25, 2006. The authors of the initiative point to the imperfection of some provisions of the manual as the reason for the violation of the rights of prisoners.

The "Socialist Revolutionaries" propose to consider the possibility of amending the order of the Ministry of Justice "On approval of the Manual on the organization and procedure for conducting searches and examinations in correctional institutions of the penal system" in terms of changing the procedure for conducting full searches of prisoners.

The collective request was signed by 39 deputies, including Sergei Mironov, Nikolai Levichev, Dmitry Gudkov, Ilya Ponomarev, Valery Zubov, Oleg Nilov and others.