Russian prison guards arrested over torture of inmate

Six prison officers have been detained after footage emerged of an inmate being viciously beaten by a group of guards.

The prison officers are being questioned after "acting deliberately, clearly exceeding their official powers, used violence against a prisoner", investigators said.

The 10-minute video, which was leaked to a newspaper by a human rights charity, shows the man being laid out on a table, pinned down, and methodically beaten by 18 guards.

The men take it in turn to punch him, hit him with unidentified objects, and pour water over him.

He begs for mercy and is believed to lose consciousness at one point.

In a translation of the interrogation, the beating appears to take place because the inmate insulted a prison guard.

He shouts that his hands are broken, and the officers notice his legs swell from the beating.

According to the Noyava Gazeta newspaper, it was shot in June 2017, but action is only being launched now the video has emerged.

It was leaked by Public Verdict, whose lawyer Irina Biryukova has since had to flee the country and has requested state protection for her family.

The video was shot in the Volga city of Yaroslavl. The city's investigative committee said: "Today six people have already been detained.

"The criminals delivered multiple blows with hands, feet and unidentified objects to the man's torso and limbs."

The other men involved have been identified by investigators.

Prison guards in Russia are required to wear portable video recorders, which is how the video was shot.

Human rights campaigners regularly report torture and beatings in prisons, but the leaking of footage is rare.