A special unit for untouchables?

Let us recall that earlier human rights activists called for the creation of a special unit within the Investigative Committee of Russia that would specialize in the investigation of crimes committed by law enforcement officers.

The appeal , which was signed by the chairman of the MHG Lyudmila Alekseeva, the chairman of the Council of the Human Rights Center “Memorial” Oleg Orlov, the director of the “Public Verdict” foundation Natalya Taubina and other well-known human rights activists, in particular says: “We note with satisfaction that, based on the information voiced by the TFR, within the framework of The creation of a special unit took into account many of our specific proposals on how it should be structured. In particular, the need to ensure the independence of investigators from the regional leadership, to ensure the independence of operational support from those against whom a preliminary investigation is underway or preliminary checks are being carried out, setting tasks for the unit to analyze the practice of investigating such criminal cases and developing the most effective methods of investigation, as well as measures to preventing these crimes."

The official representative of the Investigative Committee, Vladimir Markin, said that the new unit will specialize “in the consideration of complaints against the actions of law enforcement officers and the investigation of criminal cases against police officers.”

This time, the public’s demand apparently coincided with the desire of Bastrykin’s department to strengthen its position among the security forces, but, most importantly, this would benefit society, which wants to get rid of the impunity of people in uniform who have committed crimes.