The Prosecutor's Office of Karelia has not confirmed the indictment in a criminal case of Ivan Savelyev, the former warden of the colony No. 9, and his former deputy Ivan Kovalyov, accused of abuse of authority by using violence. The Stolitsa na Onego Online Newspaper reported this with reference to lawyer Mikhail Shogin.
According to the lawyer, Deputy Prosecutor of the republic Sergei Gubin sent the criminal case of Ivan Savelyev and Ivan Kovalyov back to the Investigation Committee "for further investigation".
“The main argument is the conclusion of an expert from St. Petersburg. He came to the conclusion that the images on the video file [a video of a convicted person being beaten by two employees of Penal Colony 9, published in the media] are unsuitable for comparative examination. Simply said, the inspection has not confirmed that Savelyev and Kovalyov are depicted in this video of 2014,” Mikhail Shogin commented.
The Karelian Investigation Committee opened a criminal case on the fact of abuse of authority by using violence against employees of Penal Colony 9 of Petrozavodsk in October 2019. A video published in social networks and media, in which two employees of the colony are beating a convict with their hands and feet, was the basis for it. Journalists recognized the authorities of Penal Colony 9 of Petrozavodsk including Ivan Savelyev, who held a post of the deputy head of Penal Colony 9 for security and operational work at that time.
Savelyev was arrested six months after the video was published, but soon the preventive measure was varied to a restraining. He refused to admit his guilt. The preventive measure for Ivan Kovalyov, who was first placed under house arrest, was also varied to a restraining in November 2020.
The management of the Federal Penitentiary Service promised to dismiss Savelyev, but instead, during the investigation, he was transferred to a position of the head of a prison hospital in Medvezhyegorsk and then dismissed from office until the court ruling.
