Vladimir Putin dismissed Anatoly Yakunin, deputy director of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN).

This is stated in the presidential decree.

“To release the lieutenant general of the internal service Anatoly Ivanovich Yakunin from the post of deputy director of the Federal Penitentiary Service,” the document says.

The decree comes into force on the day of its signing.

Yakunin in different years headed the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow and the operational management of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, in November 2019 he moved to work in the Federal Penitentiary Service as an assistant director.

Since August 2020, he has served as Deputy Director.

We will remind, on November 25, the head of state also signed a decree by which he dismissed the then director of the FSIN, Alexander Kalashnikov.

Kalashnikov was appointed head of the Federal Penitentiary Service in October 2019, since 1987 he served in the state security agencies, including the head of the FSB departments in the Komi Republic and the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

The press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov emphasized that Alexander Kalashnikov was dismissed from the post of head of the Federal Penitentiary Service at his personal request.

He told reporters about this in response to a question whether Kalashnikov's dismissal was connected with the incident with the publication of video recordings of torture of prisoners in the Saratov region.

“I would not establish any direct connection.

It was a personal appeal from the head of the Federal Penitentiary Service, ”explained Peskov.

Speaking about the situation with the video recordings, the Kremlin spokesman noted that "now the relevant services are conducting verification and investigative actions, and the FSIN itself is also dealing with this, and the prosecutor's office is investigating."

“There are indeed problems there, but, I repeat, it was a personal appeal,” the press secretary added.

By another decree, Putin appointed Arkady Gostev, who was previously deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to the post of head of the department.

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On December 20, the President conferred the rank of Colonel-General of Internal Service to Arkady Gostev.

The corresponding decree of the head of state was published on the official Internet portal of legal information.

"To confer the special rank of Colonel-General of the Internal Service to Arkady Alexandrovich Gostev," the document says.

We will remind, earlier in the network were published videos of abuse of prisoners in a number of colonies.

Dmitry Peskov said that there was a prompt reaction to the situation in the Saratov prison hospital, and the Prosecutor General's Office began appropriate checks at the Federal Penitentiary Service.

At a meeting of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights (HRC), Vladimir Putin spoke about the need for systemic measures to combat the violation of prisoners' rights. 

Answering a question from HRC member Eva Merkacheva about torture in colonies, the head of state said that the Investigative Committee is monitoring the situation and is conducting a preliminary investigation.

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The head of state noted that the Federation Council has already begun work on amendments to the legislation, which enshrines the very concept of the crime of "torture".

"Such work is underway, in any case it has been raised in the Federation Council and is working on it," Putin noted.

Peskov also noted that in some cases, information about violations in the work of the FSIN may be ordered.

“We have learned to very carefully filter all this information: collective letters, recordings of collective appeals, and so on are often generously paid by some businessmen in the competition.

They are provoked by some small regional pseudo-politicians.

That is, it happens to be a clean order, ”Peskov explained.

He confirmed that the Kremlin is carefully checking the incoming information. 

At the same time, Peskov noted that the immediate situation in the hospital of the Federal Penitentiary Service in the Saratov region "stands apart".

“After all, this is more of a video evidence.

You saw that verification and investigative actions were launched very promptly, human rights defenders reacted, ”the Kremlin spokesman said.

During the press conference, Vladimir Putin also said that 17 criminal cases were opened in Russia on the facts of torture in penitentiary institutions, dozens of FSIN officers were fired.

The President added that the problem of torture in institutions of the penitentiary system is global, and not only Russian, and noted that during the investigation it is necessary to use the capabilities of human rights organizations.

On December 20, a bill was introduced to the State Duma aimed at toughening the punishment for torture for government officials.

The document proposes to introduce appropriate amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The bill concretizes and expands the very concept of “torture”.

If adopted, intimidation of a prisoner in order to control his personality, as well as coercion to commit any actions under the threat of torture, will be equated with torture.

The authors of the initiative also propose to increase the punishment for torture organized or carried out by representatives of the authorities with the aim of coercing testimony or intimidation.

For such a crime, the bill provides for a maximum penalty of 12 years in prison.