February 28, 2008
YouTube Restores Video Appearing to Show Prisoner Abuse in Russia
YouTube Tuesday reinstated a video clip appearing to document abuse of prisoners at a Russian prison camp. The Wall Street Journal reports.
"Lawyer Robert Amsterdam posted the video to YouTube in December with the explanation that the 2006 footage comes from a prison camp in Yekaterinaburg and was discovered by Lev Ponomarev, co-founder of the Moscow-based Foundation for Defense of Rights of Prisoners.
The six-minute clip includes scenes of a troop of men in camouflage uniforms and helmets marching into a building and then beating unarmed individuals with clubs. A Feb. 12 The Wall Street Journal editorial-page article discussing Mr. Ponomarev and cruelty to prisoners in Russia, which appeared before the clip's removal, directed readers to the YouTube video.
Google Inc.'s YouTube video-sharing site Tuesday reinstated a video clip appearing to document abuse of prisoners at a Russian prison camp.
"In this case, our general policy against graphic violence led to the initial removal of a video documenting alleged human rights abuses because the context was not apparent," said a YouTube spokesman. "Having reviewed the case, we have restored the video."
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