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Russia journalist dies after being tortured in prison

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] A Russian journalist died in a Siberian hospital on Wednesday from injuries he received during a police beating nearly two weeks ago, according to local investigators. Konstantin Popov, an economics writer for a Russian newspaper, was arrested for drunkenness on January 4 and taken to prison, where police officer Alexei Mitayev allegedly tortured and sexually assaulted him. Popov suffered severe internal injuries and spent nearly two weeks in a coma before his death. Mitayev, who will undergo a psychiatric evaluation next month, was charged with abuse of power and intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm, and he faces up to 10 years in prison. Popov's editor-in-chief expressed concern over police brutality in the country, but said that Popov's murder was probably not related to his journalism. The UN Human Rights Committee has criticized Russia for unsolved killings of journalists and human rights activists and violence against citizens. In November, the chairwoman of Russia's Council for Promoting Civil and Human Rights said that Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky had been murdered in prison. Earlier that month, a suspect was arrested for the double murder of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova. Markelov had represented famed journalist Anna Politskovskaya who was killed in 2006. At least 11 journalists have been murdered in Russia since 2005, according to the US Committee to Protect Journalists.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on January 21, 2010 (boomark / email).