The fourth department of the Directorate of the Investigative Committee based in the city of Yekaterinburg has initiated criminal proceedings against acting head of the investigation department of the operations office the Chelyabinsk Region prison authority Sergei Putilin, head of the operations office of correctional facility No 8 of the region’s prison authority Yevgeny Zauer and an operative agent of the same office Dmitry Babin. They are suspected of a crime under Part 5, item “a” of Article 290 of the RF Penal Code (bribe-taking by officials in a group).

According to investigators, in the period between 23 November 2012 and 1 July 2014, the accomplices regularly took cash and other bribes from the convicts serving their time in correctional facility No 8. For that the suspects provided general patronage and connivance of wrongdoings committed by the convicts and violations of the internal code of the correctional facility. They also committed other illegal actions or omission for bribe givers.

All the suspects were detained due to investigative and search operations carried out by the investigations of the Investigative committee together with officials of the Chelyabinsk Office of the Federal Security Service, Chelyabinsk Region Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior and Internal Security Office of the Chelyabinsk Region Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service. Charges and restraint are expected. The investigation is ongoing.