CHELYABINSK, November 27 (RIA Novosti) – Members of Russia’s Public Oversight Commission were allowed on Tuesday to enter a local prison in the Chelyabinsk Region where a riot erupted over the weekend, according to a spokesman for the local Federal Penitentiary Service.
Human rights activist Nikolai Schur and three colleagues were granted permission to enter the prison, after being denied on Monday, to inspect whether the prisoners’ rights had been violated.
The team was assisted by officials from the prosecutor’s office, the Investigative Committee and deputy director of the FPS, Eduard Petrukhin, who promised to uncover any apparent rights violations, the spokesman said.
Around 250 prisoners at the colony near the Urals city of Chelyabinsk rioted on Saturday, demanding a more relaxed regime and release of several of their number from a special punishment isolation unit.
The prisoners held up makeshift banners including one saying in red letters "We Have a Thousand on Hunger Strike" and another saying "People, Help."
The police said at least 38 people were detained over the incident, also claiming some of them were drunk.
Vladimir Lukin, Russia’s top ombudsman, said on Monday he would look into the case. Around 30 prisoners' relatives remained outside the jail on Monday, shortly after the riot ended.
Prison officials denied on Monday that the prisoners were on hunger strike.
