On April 14, 2019, exactly 218 years ago, Alexander I liquidated the Secret Expedition under the Senate and prohibited torture during interrogations. Until this day, torturing the accused was commonplace for law enforcement agencies. An excellent occasion to recall in more detail the political police and their system of torture.
1. For "political" criminals
In general, the date of the founding of the police in Russia is considered to be 1718. But from this moment begins the division of the police into general and political. So, there were special rules for political prisoners. For example, torture on end could not be applied to persons under the age of 14 and those over 70. But not for those who were interrogated by the political police - they could have been tortured on the rack despite their age. Often, victims of torture died of pain shock, cardiac arrest, etc. At the same time, everything was within the law - such vast powers were possessed by the political police.
2. Infernal conditions
Prisons in which suspects of political crimes were kept were not characterized by human conditions: damp, sometimes lack of sunshine, meager food. The prisoners were not allowed to walk: the only place they could be in addition to their cell was a torture chamber.
3. The torture system
In general, the torture system in the Russian Empire had many features. For example, there was a rule according to which a person who confessed to the charges against him should be tortured three times (!). In this way, the most truthful confessions can be obtained from him.
During the eighteenth century, torture gradually became more humane (for example, the presence of certain individuals during torture, the emperor’s personal control of the secret police, etc.), but the result of the torture was still a top priority. The political police at all costs needed to maintain political order and maintain the resilience of state power.
Source: https://vk.com/history_0z
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