That there is corruption in Russian society is far from surprising but watching officer Alexei Dymovsky, in full uniform, voice his concern to a global audience is not something you see every day.
Dymovsky says corruption has invaded his daily work as a police officer in the southern Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. He says the problem bothered him so much that he spoke out about it on YouTube. Dymovsky says senior officers have pressured subordinates to charge innocent people with crimes to meet statistical targets. He continues with an appeal to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for help.
Dymovsky, however, was fired for alleged slander against law enforcement after he posted the video. But the former police officer says he will not abandon his struggle. Dymovsky says he wants to proceed and to achieve justice, adding that he wants to revive respect towards policemen.
Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev says there is no investigation into the officer’s allegations, but rather an administrative review. Nurgaliyev also criticizes Dymovsky for taking his allegations public rather than going through channels.
But the officer’s charges seem to have struck a cord with the ordinary Russians. His online video has been viewed about one million times. Muscovite Kirill Nesterenko says he thinks it is admirable that Dymovsky is trying to do something about corruption. Nesterenko says Dymovsky has found the strength and courage to do this, and this is worthy of respect. So he thinks that is an important first step.
Losing his job might be the least of Dymovsky’s problems:
On Tuesday morning, Dymovsky fled to Moscow, where he held a press conference in a packed room. As the neatly dressed blond made his way through the crowd, one cameraman shouted, “Let the hero through!”
Dymovsky has served in the police force for 10 years, he says in one of the videos, living on a monthly wage of 14,000 rubles ($487) while working “30 out of every 31 days.”
At the press conference, he likened his act to “suicide.”
“I’m a little scared to speak in front of you and the whole country,” Dymovsky says on one video. “I have a wife, who is six months pregnant. But I can’t act differently.”
A work-related injury prompted Dymovsky’s public appeal, after he says local medical officials refused to treat him. Tabloid website Life.ru ran an interview with the clinic’s main doctor, Zoya Vasilievna, on Tuesday, who said: “This major provoked a very strange feeling — his face carried all the signs of psychopathic person.”
An interior ministry source chose another tack to slam Dymovsky, accusing him of working for foreign agents.
Ironically the spotlight is probably the only thing that can save Dymovsky now. Even celebrity may not be enough considering the level of corruption and ruthlessness he faces.
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