Notorious Moscow Prison To Give Sunbeds, Internet To Inmates

Butyrka prison in Moscow

Inmates at Moscow's Butyrka prison are to receive sunbeds as part of a drive to improve conditions at the notorious detention facility.

The chief spokesman for Moscow prisons says other improvements include Internet telephony, along with access to better medical services and prescription drugs.

President Dmitry Medvedev vowed to reform Russian prisons after the death last year in Butyrka of Sergei Magnitsky, an attorney for Hermitage Capital Management.

Magnitsky reportedly died in the jail after being denied medical care.

Critics have scoffed at the proposed improvements, saying there are more urgent basic priorities than Internet connections and sunbeds -- like alleviating overcrowded cells and giving prisoners access to hot water.

compiled from agency reports