According to TASS with reference to the statement of lawyer Snezhana Muntyan, the reason for the absentee arrest of Sergei Savelyev was the appearance on the Web of horrific videos showing torture, rape and torture of prisoners brought for treatment at Saratov prison hospital.
After human rights activists stood up for Savelyev, the prosecutor of the Saratov region, Sergey Filipenko, agreed with their arguments and filed a complaint with the court against the decision to arrest Savelyev.
"The court overturned the decision to arrest him", - is stated in the message.
Also canceled the decision to initiate proceedings against Savelyev.
Tatiana Moskalkova, Ombudsman for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, called the actions of Sergey Savelyev a manifestation of courage. “A man who has shown the courage to confront this ugly phenomenon”, - she said.
However, representatives of the country's security system decided differently. After the disclosure of compromising materials, the Russian security forces put Savelyev on the wanted list. Having received threats to his life from representatives of Russian law enforcement agencies, Savelyev was forced to hastily leave the country and asked for political asylum in France.
Meanwhile, the Federal Penitentiary Service requested from human rights activists access to a video archive of torture of prisoners, and the Investigative Committee opened seven criminal cases under Articles 132 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violent acts of a sexual nature) and 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (abuse of power with the use of violence and the threat of its use).
Against the background of the scandal, 18 people lost their posts in the penitentiary department, including the head of Saratov prison hospital Gatsenko, his deputy Salov, the head of the operative department Bochkov and the head of the security department Maltsev. The head of the regional Federal Penitentiary Service Fedotov resigned, 11 more employees received severe reprimands.