In a bid to step up control over the country’s notorious prison system, the Kremlin authorized on Thursday a range of senior officials and rights activists to access detention facilities without special permits. The bill, signed into law by President Dmitry Medvedev, grants free access to prisons to federal and regional lawmakers, senior bureaucrats, ombudsmen and representatives of Russian and international rights groups, the Kremlin said on its web site. Previously, rights activists and most […]