They shot down from Tomsk

The general replied for the murder of a journalist

A policeman can beat or even kill a person with impunity - they talked about this in Tomsk for a long time. But only after the loud murder of journalist Konstantin Popov, the head of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Tomsk Region, General Viktor Grechman, was finally resigned
Two weeks after the death of journalist Konstantin Popov

* * The journalist was taken to the detector on the night of January 3 to 4, there he was brutally beaten. On January 20, Popov, without regaining consciousness, died. Tomsk is still shaking. On January 28, employees of the Mediciper were dismissed who could witness the beating of a journalist. The underlylet is closed. On January 24, about 200 people with posters “Militsevo chaos are worse than gangster!” Sit the next rally against police lawlessness! ” The Governor of the Tomsk Region Viktor Korus invited residents to begin a public discussion to create an alternative to existing medical workers. The governor did not exclude the possibility of creating private-state sides.

Loud murder
“On January 4, 2010, our colleague was killed in a medical saber of the city. An employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who has a brilliant characteristic and committing monstrous actions on a healthy 47-year-old man, can learn the fascists of all time, ”this began the statement of the Tomsk Union of Journalists, made immediately after the death of Konstantin Popov. The terrible crime that happened on the night of January 3 to 4 became the public only after 10 days. The city was shocked. In shock from the sophistication of bullying were doctors who operated on the injured journalist. As it was immediately established, it all started with a trifle: a man was sitting at home, listening loudly to music. When the police arrived at the call of the neighbors, Popov opened the door to the police, he was put in the car and taken to the medical unit. What caused the beast beating that followed this, one can only guess.

Citizens are still shocked by the brutal murder of Konstantin Popov

It was not possible to keep the news about the death of a journalist within the framework of the region, as all cases of the copal lawlessness have not been silent. After the death of Konstantin Popov was written by the New York Times and the Washington Post, Governor Victor Korus, being in Germany, said: “The villains must bear the most severe punishment. This emergency in the structure of the Internal Affairs Directorate, not only once again painfully hits the authority of the police and undermines the confidence of the population to the work of law enforcement agencies, but also serves as a reason for the serious personnel cleaning of the Department of Internal Affairs, change the personnel work in management. ”

Personnel bargaining

The Tomsk Union of Journalists, in turn, made a statement in which he demanded from the authorities the resignation of the leadership of the Internal Affairs Directorate - General Viktor Grechman. The authorities began to bargain. The “scapegoat” was first appointed the head of the medical unit - he wrote a report on dismissal. But this resignation did not hit the situation. Then it was announced the closure of the paramedic. But this step turned out to be a single shot. Everyone demanded the resignation of the head of the Internal Affairs Directorate. People began to go to rallies and pickets. Victor Grechman officially stated that he was not resigned, and a higher guide should give an assessment of the incident. The situation was also warmed up by the fact that the Tomsk police officer, which was mutilated by the journalist, Alexei Mityaev was arrested only 11 days after the crime committed by him. In the loyal head of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate, reports began to appear about the difficult family position of the policeman Mityaev, that he repented and that throughout the service he had brilliant characteristics.
Victor Korus until the last did not want to hand over the main Tomsk policeman. Communicating with journalists, the governor always said Off the Record that the Grechman, of course, is not perfect, but if he is removed and sent some Varangian who will be better from this? Tomsk officials recalled how so far the regional prosecutor was Tomich Yuri Sukhoplyuev, later transferred to the post of deputy governor on security issues, everything was calm in the region, and as soon as he was replaced by Varangian Sergei Panov, the new prosecutor immediately brought the criminal case against Tomsk, Andrei Makarov, accusing him of abuse. But the officials failed to defend the head of the Department of Internal Affairs. January 22, on the day of the funeral of Konstantin Popov, the news spread along Tomsk: the Grechman was removed. This was done, as it turned out a little later, the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs "on behalf of the President of Russia." The Minister of Internal Affairs Rashid Nurgaliev, obviously, did not find the strength to remove the Grechman from his post, but could not refuse the president. As a friend of the deceased journalist in a civilian memorial service said: “Konstantin and his death committed a real journalistic feat - he pulled out all the dirt that surrounded us. And now our task is to wash off this dirt. ”

Not the first death

Mud, however, accumulated for a long time. It was just that the tragic death of Konstantin Popov managed to avoid federal resonance, quietly solving problems at the regional level. For example, in March 2009, the Tomsk Regional Court sentenced the former head of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Internal Affairs Directorate in the Tomsk Region Gennady Nikiforov, found guilty of the murder of an insolo-industrial entrepreneur Igor Vakhnenko to 24 years. Having no reason, employees of the department for combating economic crimes detained the businessman and brought him to their department. In the building of the operational-search part, Vakhnenko was first beaten, then the operatives threw the entrepreneur’s body out the window from the fourth floor, after which they took him to the forest and buried.

Policeman Alexei Mityaev was detained 11 days after the tragedy

Very often in the center of the scandal were Tomsk sobering -ups. In the summer of 2009, a private security officer was even convicted, who beat men taken to a medical underwear to a hem. And such cases are dozens. But usually such cases cannot be brought to court, they are closed with the wording "Facts were not confirmed." Tomsk journalists remember many such cases. Once upon a time, even the employees of the Tomsk Internal Affairs Directorate themselves turned to the press, real opera, telling how cool professionals are scattered from General Grechman, and dumbasses who can draw “sticks” come to replace them, that is, revealing indicators. “Such wild incidents, such a cattle attitude towards a person on the part of a law enforcement officer cannot be an accident,” said Alexander Krasnoperov, deputy editor -in -chief of the newspaper Tomsk News. “This is a type of behavior of the police of an authoritarian state, where, of course, it is declared that a citizen is the highest value, but employees know the true attitude of the state to their citizen.” The reform of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Tomsk Region began with the resignation of General Grechman, I would like only that she would not limit himself.