Two Russian police officers receive prison sentences for torturing teenager

Two beat officers in the St. Petersburg police force have been sentenced to prison time on charges of torturing a teenage boy. The human rights organization Zona Prava first reported on the sentencing.

Alexander Zabroda was sentenced to one year and eight months in a prison colony, while Yevgeny Auning was sentenced to one year and six months. Both have been barred from future state service.

In the summer of 2019, the mother of a 17-year-old boy told Novaya Gazeta that her son had been beaten in the Kolpino Police Station, where he had been taken after a store owner suspected him of shoplifting. The mother, Olesya Koval, said police beat her son for two hours and threatened to sexually assault him using a baton.

While the St. Petersburg police department denied its officers’ involvement in the beating, Zabroda and Auning ultimately pleaded guilty.