An inmate protest against harsh prison conditions in Russia's Chelyabinsk region turned into a full-scale uprising over the weekend. Convicts accused prison authorities of extortion and torture, and families and other supporters of the inmates gathered outside Prison No. 6 in Kopeysk. Russian authorities said they eventually quelled the unrest, but not before bloody clashes between police and the crowd outside resulted in 38 arrests, local media said.
Russian Inmates' Protest Spills Outside Prison Gates
![Inmates stand on a roof of Prison No. 6 in Kopeysk with a sign that says, "The [prison] administration extorts money and tortures us."](https://gdb.rferl.org/8097BBC7-1DDF-4F70-92DD-74AD0E43C788_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Inmates stand on a roof of Prison No. 6 in Kopeysk with a sign that says, "The [prison] administration extorts money and tortures us."
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Media, relatives, and friends of inmates gather in front of the prison.
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Police cordon off the area around the Kopeysk prison after the rebellion by inmates broke out on November 24.
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A group of inmates stands on a rooftop inside the prison. Two of the signs read, "We are 1,500 human beings!"
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Police officers in riot gear cordon off the prison, with protesting inmates in the background.
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A car caught in the melee outside the prison has a shattered window reportedly broken by a police baton.