"Our Edward Snowden": Belarusian Handed Over To Human Rights Defenders More Than 1000 Videos Of Torture In Russian Prisons

• 7.10.2021, 9:30

After the publication, the head of the Federal Prison Service of Saratov region was fired, and checks started all over Russia.

On October 5, Russian human rights organization "Gulagu.net" published video materials about tortures in Russian prisons. According to the head of the organization Vladimir Osechkin, this archive had been handed over to him by Belarusian Siarhei.

The videos show physical and sexual abuse against the patients of the prison tuberculosis hospital in Saratov.

According to Vladimir Osechkin, the Belarusian himself was in Saratov prison and experienced all the horrors of detention. He was forced to cooperate with the prison service, entrusted as an IT specialist to manage the computer network of the prison and provide access to video from the entire Russian prison system. Thanks to this, the Belarusian was able to get 40 GB of video from nearly 1,000 files, writes the British Telegraph.

Vladimir Osechkin called the Belarusian "our Edward Snowden".

Following the publication of the video head of the Federal Prison Service of Saratov region Alexei Fedotov was dismissed. Inspections have also begun in the prison system throughout Russia.

Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that first it is necessary to check the authenticity of the video and, if the information is confirmed, to conduct a serious investigation.

"First we need to sort it out quickly but calmly and establish the authenticity of these materials," Peskov said, reports Kommersant.