A Lawyer of a Russian police officer in custody for an online video about police corruption appealed his client's arrest on Tuesday.
Alexei Dymovsky from the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk in Russia's southern Krasnodar Territory is facing charges of fraud and abuse of office with a possible prison sentence of up to 10 years after he posted online video messages last year urging a nationwide crackdown on police corruption.
Sergei Gubar said he appealed to a Krasnodar territorial court to revise the decision on Dymovsky's physical arrest and change it to release on his own recognizance.
The officer hit the headlines across Russia last September after he went online to accuse his bosses and coworkers of corruption. He also appealed to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to take action. The recording was also posted on YouTube.com with English subtitles.
In his online appeal, Dymovsky said department chiefs forced officers to solve nonexistent crimes and even "jail innocent people" to artificially improve crime figures. He complained that ordinary staff were treated "like cattle," had no days off or sick leave, and said young people joined the police on a 12,000 rubles monthly wage ($413) because they knew they would be able to survive on bribes.
Shortly after posting his claims, Dymovsky was fired for "libel and action that tarnishes the police force."
Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev, who vowed last August to eradicate corruption in his ministry, ordered a federal probe into Dymovsky's claims.
This and other scandals prompted President Dmitry Medvedev in December to order the wholesale reform of the Interior Ministry, trimming police numbers and raising salaries in an effort to reduce corruption.
KRASNODAR, January 26 (RIA Novosti)
