09 June 2004 10:53
Policemen beat up bus driver in Russia`s westernmost region
[Presenter] Special-purpose unit [OMON] policemen in Kaliningrad are establishing justice as they know it. Under
their rules, road traffic is to be regulated as follows: you can stop any vehicle, beat up the driver and then always
find reasons for the beating. In one incident, a bus driver fell victim to this brand of justice after he refused to
give way to a police jeep.
[Correspondent Dmitriy Podgorchuk] In the opinion of bus driver Denis Yuris, those OMON policemen are scarier than
any bandits. They are not afraid of any laws and could not care less about any traffic rules. They got in the oncoming
traffic lane, blocked the traffic and then, using a megaphone, began shouting at the driver to let them pass.
[Yuris, captioned] Then they just began ramming the bus, so I had to move to the kerb but there was very little space
and we ended up stuck opposite each other. I tried to pass through but it did not work. Then they got out of their
vehicle and began banging on my window.
[Correspondent] The OMON policemen smashed the bus window with the butt of an assault rifle. After that they dragged
the driver on to the tarmac and four of them began beating him up in full view of all passengers.
[Sergey Shulga, deputy director of Zelenogradsk-Trans bus company] Here I've got a doctor's certificate
that states that Denis Nikolayevich Yuris has sustained a closed fracture to his nose.
[Correspondent] The next day after the attack the whole city knew of the incident. It was therefore impossible for
local officials to pretend as if nothing had happened. An emergency meeting was convened at the mayor's office. It
was attended by heads of all bus companies. The meeting adopted a collective letter to the local police directorate and
the prosecutor's office. They were urged not to abstain from the national campaign against corrupt policemen and to
punish the offending OMON officer immediately.
[Denis Bushuyev, chief investigator of Kaliningrad's Tsentralnyy district prosecutor's office, captioned]
The incident falls under the definition of an offence listed in paragraph A in Part 3 of Article 286 [of the Russian
Criminal Code] - abuse of office with use of violence. The punishment for the offence varies from three to 10 years in
prison.
[Correspondent] The prosecutor's office is unable to say how long the investigation will take. The region's
interior directorate is refraining from any comment until the investigation is over. The only official statement so far
says that the four OMON policemen have been sacked and will be punished in accordance with the law. However, local bus
companies doubt whether the policemen will ever go to court, if it takes place at all, that is.
[Ren TV] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
