Ussuriysk: a criminal case has been opened regarding the poisoning of detainees in a pre-trial detention centre

Investigative bodies have opened a criminal case against the deputy head for personnel and educational work of the Ussuriysk pre-trial detention centre, in which three detainees died from poisoning. As Aurora Rimskaya, senior assistant to the head of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Primorsky Territory, reported to RIA Novosti, the deputy head is suspected of exceeding his authority. According to her, he “transferred products and an unidentified liquid to one of the prisoners without a search in the established order”.
The criminal case against the deputy head of the pre-trial detention centre was opened under Part 3 of Article 286 of the Criminal Code (“exceeding official authority with the infliction of grave consequences”), which provides for up to 10 years of imprisonment. The investigation is ongoing.

Also on Monday, it became known that members of the public monitoring commission for the control of human rights observance in places of detention did not find any violations of the rights and legitimate interests of citizens held in the Ussuriysk pre-trial detention centre. A representative of the office of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Primorsky Territory reported this to RIA Novosti. Members of the commission visited the detention centre. According to him, the detainees were held in a cell where the size of the area corresponds to the standards: “The cell is bright, there is water, light, a toilet. Everything is as it should be. Individual sleeping places were available for everyone, clean bedding”.

On 17 January, six detainees were taken from the pre-trial detention centre to a hospital with symptoms of acute food poisoning. Two people died on the same day, four were sent for treatment to a medical facility of the penitentiary service. As noted in the message of the regional Main Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service, the people felt ill after drinking water that had been passed to one of the prisoners by relatives. As a result, the detainees of one of the cells were poisoned by an as-yet-unidentified toxic substance, three of them died, and one committed suicide, claims the GUFSIN.

The deceased prisoners were defendants in different criminal cases — one was incriminated with murder, two others — with robbery and theft.