In the Irkutsk region, the case of the beating of a prisoner by other convicts «at the direction of unidentified employees of the colony» was suspended, as one of the attackers left for the war, Pyotr Kuryanov, the victim's lawyer, told Taiga.Info.
Solved my life questions. The leader of the organized criminal group, sentenced to 25 years, joined the Wagner PMC and died in Ukraine
According to the decision, a copy of which is at the disposal of the publication, the investigator instructed the criminal investigation department to conduct a «search for persons to be brought in as an accused.» At the same time, according to Kuryanov, the prisoners pointed out by his client Spiridonov were not actually brought in as defendants.
During the meeting, the prisoner participating in it via video link said that the name of one of those who beat him was Abaev. As Spiridonov noted, he went to fight in the Donetsk region. Taiga.Info journalists recalled that in the fall and winter, convicts who were serving sentences in Irkutsk colonies were recruited into the Wagner PMC. According to them, Abaev could become a volunteer.
Sending prisoners to the war became known in the summer. Then representatives of the Wagner PMC and Yevgeny Prigozhin began to arrive in the Russian colonies. Statistics from the Federal Penitentiary Service show that by the end of October, Russia's prison population had decreased by 23,000 people. Volunteers are promised payments and pardons, and for desertion they are threatened with executions.
The authorities support the participation of Wagner PMC fighters in the war. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin called them «heroes» and instructed «urgently» to develop amendments that would allow criminal prosecution for «discrediting» combatants.