MOSCOW, November 8 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian Interior Ministry commission will start on Monday an internal check of a southern Russian police department following video statements by a local police officer, a ministry spokesman said Sunday.
A video showing a police major who said his name was Alexei Dymovsky from the city of Novorossiisk in the Krasnodar Territory was recently posted on Youtube. Dymovsky accused his chiefs of corruption in his speech addressed to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
The video showed Dymovsky saying department chiefs forced officers to solve nonexistent crimes to improve statistics and lamenting that staff had no days off or sick leaves, as well as saying young people came to work to police on a 12,000 ruble monthly wage ($413) because they knew they would have "tributes."
"Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev has ordered an internal check, and a [ministry] commission will start its work in the Novorossiisk interior department on Monday. The commission comprises officials from the personnel department, internal affairs division and other interested units," Interior Ministry spokesman Police Maj. Gen. Valery Gribakin said.
"A report will be drafted following the check, and Nurgaliyev will present it to President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin," Gribakin said.
He also said Maj. Dymovsky, who has worked in the police department since 2004 and has in his work dealt with illicit drug-related crimes, will be suspended from his duties pending the completion of the check.
The Novorossiisk police department said the major has not appeared at work since August as he is on a sick leave. The department also said it believes Dymovsky should have discussed the problems inside of his unit instead of "bringing them to the web and tarnishing the image of Novorossiisk police."
"We disagree with his statement that police officers put up with a lack of free time... and small wages only because they are frightened by their chiefs. We knew where we went and realize our work is inevitably connected with big difficulties," the Novorossiisk police department said in a statement.
Dymovsky earlier said on Ekho Moskvy radio that his colleagues support him in private conversations. He has also said he is being pressured and had to hire a bodyguard to ensure the security for himself and his family.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has highlighted corruption as one of the key reasons for the country's problems.
