Sentence Overturned for Gang Accused of Torture in Prison Colony

The Chelyabinsk Appeal Court has overturned the sentence for members of a Yekaterinburg criminal gang that operated in Colony IK-2 and was accused of extortion. The case against Vyacheslav Vashchenko, who received nine years in prison, and Alexander Korobkov, sentenced to seven and a half years in a colony, has been sent for a new trial to the regional court, but with a different panel of judges.

The convicted individuals, who were so-called activists in the correctional facility, denied the extortion charges, agreeing only to the charge of arbitrariness. The sentences for other gang members, Kirillov and Protasov, have been upheld. Another defendant, Georgy Angelichev, has evaded justice, and his case has been separated into a separate proceeding.

In the reasoning part of the decision, the court pointed out the need to eliminate violations of criminal procedural law and comprehensively evaluate the arguments of the defense«s complaints. All convicted individuals enjoyed leniency from the colony administration.

Victims in the case reported systematic torture, torment, and sexual violence used to compel the transfer of property and businesses right on the territory of the correctional institution. A source familiar with the situation said:

Terrible things happened in this colony: people were forced to re-register apartments and all property, to pay «contributions.» Otherwise, they were killed and maimed, raped, with it all recorded on video.

The crimes gained wide publicity after the death of one of the prisoners in 2015. The first trial in 2017, for the murder of a prisoner, sentenced five colony activists and a former deputy chief to terms ranging from four to six years for torment. The cruel methods, including rapes, were recorded on mobile phone cameras and brought the criminals profits amounting to hundreds of millions of rubles (equivalent to millions of dollars at current exchange rates).

Among the most well-known victims are the co-owners of a base on Komsomolskaya Street (in Yekaterinburg), Mikhail Klok and Dmitry Chuprakov. In the colony, they were beaten, threatened with sexual violence, and subjected to water torture. Under pressure, they re-registered their business, valued at hundreds of millions of rubles (millions of dollars), to individuals specified by the extortionists. Subsequently, this base passed to businessman Alexander Gorbunov.

Witness Valery Povarov, who also served time in IK-2, reported that special machines were used for rapes, and all actions were recorded on video. «They raped guys right in front of me, practically, in the shower room. Or they took them to the second floor,» he stated.

In court, victims pointed to the active role in the tortures of a criminal authority with the nickname Bulka—Alexander Bulakov. His case was separated into a separate proceeding, and in the end, he was sentenced to ten years of imprisonment. According to witnesses, Bulakov communicated with Alexander Gorbunov. Later, Gorbunov was declared wanted after he left Russia.

The investigation into the extortion and torture case proceeded with great difficulties over almost ten years. In 2023, the case was unexpectedly returned to the prosecutor«s office after an unknown lawyer approached one of the defendants with an offer to ensure the absence of a sentence.