Former head of colony where prisoners were tortured received almost 400 thousand in bonuses "for special achievements in work" upon his release - Lubinets
The former head of the Bozhkivska prison colony in Poltava region, where law enforcement officers found out that prisoners were tortured, received a bonus and other payments worth 400,000 UAH upon his release.
This was reported by the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets, Censor.NET reports.
"Recently, I drew the attention of the public and the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine to the published facts of torture of convicts of Bozhkivska Correctional Colony No. 16, revealed in 2022-2023.
For such a long time, these facts were not noticed by the leadership of the North-Eastern Interregional Department for the Execution of Sentences and the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.
On the contrary, following a personal inspection of the institution in February 2022, the current Minister noted the proper and effective functioning of the institution and the observance of the rights of convicts.
I initiated the study of official documentation on the activities of the Department for the Execution of Criminal Sentences of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.
Simultaneously with my request for access to the study of official documents, on June 6, the Ministry launched an internal investigation into the facts of torture and extortion of convicts' property in this colony.
The study found that in July 2023, during an internal investigation, without waiting for the final conclusions, the head of the institution was dismissed at his own request with bonuses of 400% of his salary "for special achievements in work" and other cash payments totaling almost UAH 400 thousand.
Later, in December 2023, the former head of this institution managed to obtain a decision to establish the maximum level of his pension.
Investigators of the State Bureau of Investigation must determine why, after the systematic violations and facts of torture and beatings of convicts, the leadership of the State Criminal Executive Service of Ukraine decided to unreasonably and illegally accrue 400% of the bonus to the head," Lubinets said.
