Mahiliou Prosecutor orders fresh probe into torture report

Having considered an appeal by the wife of Piotr Kuchura, prisoner of penal colony No. 15, against a refusal to initiate criminal proceedings against the prison administration, Mahiliou City Prosecutor Mikalai Vulvach quashed the decision by the Mahiliou interdistrict department of the Investigative Committee.

In her complaint to the City Prosecutor Ludmila Kuchura challenged the refusal to open a criminal investigation into the illegal actions of the administration of the Mahiliou-based penal colony, which, as she insists, used bleach as a means of torture of her husband.

P. Skavarodkin, investigator of the Mahiliou interdistrict department of the Investigative Committee, said there were no grounds to initiate criminal proceedings, as the actions of the prison administration contained no elements of an offense under Article 426 of the Criminal Code, “Abuse of power or authority”. In response to this, Liudmila Kuchura said that the probe that preceded this decision “only imitated activities instead of taking all legal measures to fully establish the circumstances of what happened”. Therefore, in a complaint to the Prosecutor, to supplement the materials of the probe with a forensic medical examination, which could find the traits of her husband’s exposure to the chemical.

“The Mahiliou City Prosecutor’s Office has examined the materials of the investigation; the decision not to institute criminal proceedings was cancelled on July 22, 2014; the materials have been forwarded to the Mahiliou interdistrict department of the Investigative Committee for an additional investigation,” says Prosecutor Vulvach.

Human rights defenders of the HRC “Viasna” helped Ms. Kuchura submit a complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee, which reported on the deliberate use of bleach as a means of torture, cruel or inhuman treatment.