Yevgeny Makarov was a Russian prisoner who was tortured in prison. In 2018, a leaked video of him being tortured in a Russian prison provoked significant outcry, leading to an official investigation and the conviction of 13 prison guards.[1]
Biography
In 2011, he was sentenced to six years and 10 months incarceration in Yaroslavl on charges of robbery and battery.
In 2017, Makarov's lawyer lodged a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights over his treatment in prison. Later that year, a 10-minute video was filmed inside the prison in which over a dozen prison guards were pinning him down on a table and torturing him, including stripping him, physically beating him, and waterboarding him.[2] Following the torture, he was placed in solitary confinement.[3] The video was then leaked to independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, who published it. Following a significant outcry, the Federal Penitentiary Service announced that it would be launching a formal investigation into torture allegations in Russian prisons, and 14 prison guards in Yaroslavl were arrested.[4] Makarov's lawyer was subsequently forced to flee Russia after receiving death threats.[5][6]
In October 2018, he was released from prison.[7] In November 2020, 13 people were convicted of abuse of office over his case, with sentences up to 51-months. However, both the prison director and the deputy prison director were acquitted of the charges against them.[8] In July 2022, Makarov died of pneumonia at the age of 29.[9]