Polar Owl

Kharp was founded in 1961 during the construction of the Salekhard–Igarka Railway. The core of the new settlement was a camp for prisoners who worked on laying the railway. Subsequently, the camp was transformed into a prison for particularly dangerous recidivists. The prison received the status of a colony for life convicts in 2004. In 2010–2012, there were reports in the media that some employees of the colony were involved in a scandal with the falsification of confession. Some guards were suspected of beating testimonies from prisoners with the use of physical and psychological violence. Novaya Gazeta reported 190 false confessions, while Izvestia reported 32. According to Novaya Gazeta, the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug tried to hush up the case, since high-ranking officials could be involved in it. ==Notable inmates==