Former head of Saratov prison hospital jailed pending trial for inmate abuse
A district court in Saratov has jailed the former head of a local prison hospital as a suspect in a criminal case concerning violence against inmates, RIA Novosti reported on Friday, November 26, citing the court’s press service.
The accused is Pavel Gatsenko, the former head of the penitentiary service’s Tuberculosis Hospital No. 1 — a facility that was the subject of an explosive video leak evidencing the torture and rape of prison inmates.
During the arraignment on Friday, Saratov’s Volzhsky District Court remanded Gatsenko in custody for two months, until January 25, 2022.
Earlier in the day, the court’s press service reported that investigators had also requested the detention of Sergey Maltsev, the former head of Tuberculosis Hospital No. 1’s security department.
According to the court, the two are suspects were charged with organizing the sexual abuse of inmates. Maltsev’s arraignment hearing has yet to take place.
In early October, the human rights group Gulagu.net (No to the Gulag) published three video clips leaked by a whistleblower showing the torture and rape of inmates at Tuberculosis Hospital No. 1. The hospital’s leadership was fired, along with 18 employees of the local penitentiary service department, and investigators opened several criminal cases on charges of sexual assault and abuse of power.
On November 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin fired Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) Director Alexander Kalashnikov, appointing Deputy Interior Minister Arkady Gostev as his replacement.
