"Those who abused and hanged my husband and are now silent - they are non-humans," the widow Valeria Dautova tells SVT.

What triggered the uprising, according to the relatives and attorneys of the interns, is the torture they are systematically subjected to by the staff. 

Criminal camp number 14 in Angarsk outside Irkutsk in Siberia contains about 1,200 interns convicted of repeated crimes. On the evening of April 9, a violent riot broke out at the facility. According to the Russian Prison Service, FSIN, a guard must have been abused by a group of interns. The next day, the prisoners set fire to several buildings. 

The interns themselves claim that the uprising broke out after the guard repeatedly beat an intern. As a protest against the abuse, several interns must have cut their wrists, a widespread method among prisoners in Russian prisons. According to the interns, the fire should have been triggered by the grenades and smoke bombs used by the special police officers when they stormed the camp.

Fires went out after eight hours

When the fire went out, one person was found hanged and 65 people are still missing. 

- There were other interns who knew Maksim who called and told me that it was my husband who was found hanged, Valeria Dautova says on the phone to SVT from the city of Bratsk where she lives with the couple's one-year-old daughter. 

The special forces that surrounded the camp, according to human rights organizations in Irkutsk, released the fire trucks only after eight hours.   

Now there is an emergency permit in the camp. Relatives and lawyers are not admitted to the field. They are now demanding an investigation into the incident and have asked the UN to put pressure on Russian responsible authorities. 

 Officially, Maksim Dautov is the only victim. Many interns must have been taken to other detention centers, but 65 people are still missing. 

- No one contacted me from the prison administration that he was dead.

"No one was punished for the violence"

Many of the interns have been able to call and send out videos during the uprising, which shows that phones were available despite bans. According to human rights activist Pavel Glushchenko from Irkutsk, it shows widespread corruption.

- They could be placed in isolation cell for no reason. No one was punished for the violence. Sure, those sitting there have committed crimes, but they are still human beings, says the widow Valeria Dautova.