In the afternoon of 24 November 2012, a group of up to 500 convicts in correctional facility No. 6 of Regional Directorate of the Central Directorate of Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation (town of Kopeysk) refused to obey the orders of the prison administration, demanding a more relaxed regime. Chelyabinsk Region investigating bodies of the Russia’s Investigative Committee launched a pre-investigating check into the incident. At present an investigating group, working in the correctional facility, has received 41 appeals of the convicts. Many of them state that the prison employees were extorting from the convicts from 5 up to 90 thousand rubles by creating unfavorable conditions of staying in prison and threats of physical violence.

Chelyabinsk Region investigating bodies of the Russia’s Investigative Committee have initiated a criminal case over the signs of a crime under paragraphs “a” and “c” of part 3 of article 286 of the RF Criminal Code (exceeding official powers).

5 criminal cases have also been started over signs of a crime under part 1 of article 318 of the RF Criminal Code (use of violence against a representative of the authority). Some of the OMON officers were wounded, when civilians attacked their cordon outside the prison perimeter.

At present search and investigating operations are under way to find the guilty.

In addition Chelyabinsk Region investigating bodies of the Russia’s Investigative Committee are keeping looking into reasons of convicts’ insubordination in the Kopeysk correctional facility.