Efforts to streamline Russia's law enforcement agencies will continue, especially in the volatile North Caucasus, President Dmitry Medvedev said Saturday.
Speaking at a ceremony to unveil a Federal Security Service (FSB) administration building in the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, he reiterated that he had recently approved an array of measures to clean up the law enforcement system.
"This work will continue, not least in the North Caucasus. Those who are unable to work will have to go, whatever their achievements may have been," Medvedev said.
On February 18, Medvedev ordered the discharge of 17 top police generals as part of ongoing efforts to reform the police force.
Those relieved of duty included two deputy interior ministers, Col. Gen. Nikolai Ovchinnikov and Col. Gen. Arkady Yedelev.
Other top officials who lost their jobs include Maj. Gen. Viktor Sosyura, the interior minister of Buryatia, who is facing smuggling charges; Maj. Gen. Nikolai Osyak, the interior minister of the republic of Karachai-Circassia; and Maj. Gen. Viktor Lesnyak, Tuva's interior minister.
Medvedev has also moved to introduce tougher punishment for police found guilty of crimes, submitting a bill to the parliament imposing harsher sentences than for civilians convicted of similar offences.
The president signed an order to halve the federal Interior Ministry's senior administration to 10,000 people as part of the reform drive, and urged new anti-corruption measures and tighter selection procedures for police personnel.
NALCHIK, February 27 (RIA Novosti)
