The concept has changed

A steady increase in crime and corruption has been detected again in St. Petersburg

Since 2003, when the government in St. Petersburg changed, city authorities have not heard criticism from visiting high Moscow officials about the criminal situation in St. Petersburg. If in the late 90s St. Petersburg was labeled as a criminal capital, then in the early 2000s it was already the “hometown of the president,” which cannot be the capital of something bad. The statements of Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika, who began a series of inspection trips around the country with a visit to the city on the Neva, sounded all the more harsh on Wednesday. As it turned out, he is categorically not satisfied with the organized crime, racism and drug mafia flourishing in St. Petersburg. The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Rashid Nurgaliev, made approximately the same statements.

Mr. Chaika and his district deputy Ivan Kondrat, as well as Rashid Nurgaliev, gathered the heads of law enforcement agencies of the region in St. Petersburg. The new prosecutor general said that they have not yet been able to contain “the growth of crimes and offenses of an extremist nature motivated by xenophobia and national intolerance.” In his opinion, the growth trend of these crimes has already become stable, this is especially noticeable in St. Petersburg. Indeed, the murders of African and Asian students that thundered throughout the world in 2005-2006 caused spontaneous protests by foreigners; the prosecutor's office is investigating the case of a “racist underground” that is suspected of several murders. However, two nationally motivated murder cases have already fallen apart in court because the jury refused to find the accused guilty.

However, Mr. Nurgaliev did not blame the jury for this, but said that he sees gaps in the work of the investigation and the state prosecution. “I am forced to admit that the final results of the operational activities of the departments and services of the internal affairs bodies are not always and not always adequate to the real ones,” the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs complained. He also said that in the district and St. Petersburg there are gross violations in the organization of interaction between preliminary investigation bodies and operational services in solving and investigating unobvious crimes. At the same time, according to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the number of crimes registered in the Northwestern Federal District increased by 13.1%, serious crimes - by 6.9%, but the number of solved crimes - by only 3.7%. True, the number of solved crimes from previously committed ones increased by 14.4%. The position of organized criminal groups, according to the minister, is strengthening, despite the fact that not a single investigation into cases of such groups has yet been completed.

From the words of the Prosecutor General and the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it followed that the criminal situation in the district not only remains tense, but is even worsening. It is curious that such conclusions were made two weeks after the G8 summit, before which representatives of the security forces and the organizing committee made diametrically opposed statements - that increased security measures in St. Petersburg led to a decrease in crime. Now it turns out that everything is not so rosy.

“In the regions of the district, the number of registered serious and especially serious crimes is increasing. At the same time, more than 60% remain unsolved. Manifestations of organized crime, illegal trafficking in weapons and drugs are gaining strength, manipulation of statistics in law enforcement agencies has become commonplace,” said Mr. Gull. Also, in his opinion, corruption has flourished in full bloom - this is in the same city that, after Matvienko came to power, is proud of the cleanliness of the clothes of officials! But the Prosecutor General found completely different “achievements”: “Often people are essentially left alone with arbitrariness and lawlessness.” True, all these facts will not become a reason for organizational conclusions. At least Mr. Chaika promised that none of the regional heads of law enforcement agencies would be removed from their positions.

Dmitry ANDREEV, St. Petersburg