Mass Riots at Prison in Bryansk Spark Investigation

By The Moscow Times

April 30, 2014

About 120 convicts locked themselves into one of the prison's rooms. Daveynin / Flickr

Investigators have opened a criminal case into mass riots at a prison in Klintsy, a town in the Bryansk region.

About 120 convicts locked themselves into one of the prison's rooms and threw furniture, mattresses and flaming bedsheets out the windows, the Investigative Committee said Wednesday in an online statement.

Parts of the roof were also torn down and set alight during the incident on March 28.

Inmates hurled objects at fire engines that had been called to the scene, preventing fire fighters from extinguishing the flames.

Orderlies, janitors, supervisors and other convicts were also beaten, the statement said.

The suspects face up to 10 years in jail if convicted of organizing and participating in riots.

Some inmates said that they had rioted because the prison's staff were turning a blind eye to foul play being committed by a group of "privileged" convicts, according to investigators.

The Investigative Committee said that the prison warders' actions would also be looked into as part of the criminal case.

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