In Buryatia, seven pre-trial detention center employees who tortured a detainee were given suspended sentences

The Sovetsky District Court of Ulan-Ude sentenced seven employees of pre-trial detention center (SIZO) No. 1 to four years of suspended imprisonment for beating a suspect.

The supervisors were found guilty of exceeding their official powers with the use of violence and special means, according to the website of the regional prosecutor's office. They were also banned for four years from holding positions related to the functions of government representatives.

The court found that on January 23, 2013, pre-trial detention center officers beat a handcuffed suspect to force him to change his testimony “in favor of the criminal leaders of the Republic of Buryatia.”

The Supreme Court of Buryatia on August 9 left the verdict of the first instance unchanged.

It should be noted that on June 1, three employees of the criminal investigation department were convicted in Buryatia for torturing detainees on suspicion of stealing pine nuts.

At the beginning of July, it was reported that a commission of the Main Directorate of Internal Security (GUSB) of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs went to Buryatia to check data on the involvement of police in the region in official crimes. The media noted that the commission’s arrival was most likely connected with earlier publications about the detentions of residents who took place in Buryatia, who later died in police stations from injuries, strangulation and beatings.