Russian human rights official says guards need higher pay, to reduce inmate mistreatment

Presidential Human Rights Council chairman Mikhail Fedotov says Russia’s penitentiary system should introduce stricter standards and higher pay when hiring prison guards, in order to reduce the mistreatment of inmates.

“The work is complicated, to put it mildly,” Fedotov said on July 25. “And the salary is, to put it mildly, low,” he added, saying that junior inspectors earn just 25,000 rubles ($400) per month.