Medvedev Calls for Thorough Probe Into Crimes in Russian Penitentiary System

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev called on Friday for thorough investigation into all crimes committed in the country's penitentiary system and for creation of mechanisms for their prevention.

"It is necessary to conduct a thorough investigation of all crimes committed in the criminal correctional system, to develop effective mechanisms to prevent such crimes," Medvedev said on Vk.com.

In early October, Belarusian citizen Sergei Savelyev, who previously served his term for drug trafficking in a Russian prison, started leaking footage of torture and rape of inmates.

The whistleblower secretly saved hundreds of gigabytes of videos after the prison administration tasked him with logging surveillance camera footage. Before publishing the footage, he fled Russia.

As a result, a probe was launched. So far, at least eighteen staffers of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service's department were fired for various violations.