Russian Whistleblower Cop On YouTube 176
AHuxley notes a series of YouTube videos that have gone viral in Russia, in which senior police officer Alexei Dymovsky — in full uniform — details police corruption and calls on Vladimir Putin to act. "[Dymovsky says:] 'Maybe you don't know about us, about simple cops, who live and work and love their work. I'm ready to tell you everything. I'm not scared of my own death. I will show you the life of cops in Russia, how it is lived, with all the corruption and all the rest – with ignorance, rudeness, recklessness, with honest officers killed because they have stupid bosses.' His series of three 2-to-7-minute long videos released over the past week have together garnered 1 million hits on YouTube, and have spread across Russia. Dymovsky was promptly fired after the clips spread across the Internet, and a local prosecutor has opened an investigation into libel. An interior ministry source accused him of working for foreign agents and hinted that the format of Dymovsky's complaint was a problem, using a medium that remains largely free of government control." It's best to visit the Global Post link with NoScript and Flashblock enabled. Here's a Google cache link in case it's needed.
Such a selfless act... (Score:2, Insightful)
...I only hope that his courage is somehow rewarded.
Whether he accomplishes anything out of this or not, the guy is still a hero in my book. Someone do a wikipedia article on him quick :)
Now that's hilarious ... (Score:5, Insightful)
and hinted that the format of Dymovsky's complaint was a problem, using a medium that remains largely free of government control.
This from the "people who completely miss the point" department. If government control was working so well, this officer would have had no reason not to stay within the (ahem!) "proper" channels.
Problem - reaction - solution? (Score:2, Insightful)
This blown way out of proportion by the media. Most cops in russia are corrupt and everyone in russia knows that. Where is the news here?
Problem -> reaction -> solution?..
Or just a media clusterf*k?
My guess, they still don't know how to apply this.
What's interesting is that the story originated from a closed digg-like community "Leprosorium". Then the russian MSM picked it up like its a fcking golden egg. Now slashdot? wtf?
Corruption or complacency... (Score:5, Insightful)
A very brave man (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Dead man walking (Score:5, Insightful)
Everyone knows Putin fixed the election, but most didn't care because they were happy enough to have him in there. But the fact that this got a million views so quickly like that is a suggestion that there is some real dissatisfaction among the Russian people. If Putin doesn't manage to find some way to make sure enough people are happy, then his regime will end, as surely as the regimes of dictators around the world have ended, whether they have fixed the election or not.
Of course, making the people happy could be as simple as oil prices rising again and Putin using the money from the increased revenues to pay his policemen more and invest in social programs, which is what Chavez has managed to do.
Re:Noscript AND flashblock? (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:missing something... (Score:4, Insightful)
The point is he does not want to quit. He want to improve things, and is doing something about it.
The Russian society (the FSU society) is sick. I speak from experience. But it is starting to heal. The Internet is a part of it.
And why he has to work on Saturdays without a pay? It is a present-ism.
Re:If cop does the same in US, does he keep his jo (Score:5, Insightful)
We learned from you, you learned from us. It is not a good thing.
The US economy is strong because there are a lot of good honest people in America. If the corruption in the US becomes rampant, like in the FSU, it will be a bad thing for every one.
Re:Now that's hilarious ... (Score:1, Insightful)
If government control was working so well, this officer would have had no reason not to stay within the (ahem!) "proper" channels.
Not taking sides here, but this doesn't account for people who go outside the system because they want attention or to make a political statement. Having "proper" channels doesn't ensure their use.
Re:Noscript AND flashblock? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:If cop does the same in US, does he keep his jo (Score:1, Insightful)
We also make stocks and other intangible financial instruments... and sadly we're good at that too
Re:missing something... (Score:4, Insightful)
Starting to heal???
I'm a Finn. I've been waiting that for more than I've been living (small exaggeration is needed in this case), which makes half a century.
Let me tell you a story. I once went to Soviet Union and got out of Russia. The people in there, when I told the historic event I heard from radio, said "nothing is going to change".
And, boy, were they right!
Re:Dead man walking (Score:5, Insightful)
Come on, you're talking about ancient history. The 70s? That was the Soviet Union!
What about Alexander Litvienenko [wikipedia.org]? He fled Russia in 2000, was granted asylum in the UK in October 2006, and by November 2006 he was murdered. The killers used a radioactive isotope that would not have been available to the average crazy on the street -- clearly sending a message.
Re:If cop does the same in US, does he keep his jo (Score:5, Insightful)
I think the point that people miss is that every country has some degree of corruption, but it is what levels it is active at and how they deal with that corruption that is important.
In the US, what we might term "corruption" in the sense of favoritism (or deviations from a US sense of "meritocracy") tend to occur at the very local level (small town nepotism, "networking", etc), or at the more rarefied levels of government and business (quod pro quos from both of the political parties, lobbying, the kind of no-bid blackwater/Halliburton sort of think, insider trading, etc). This isn't to say that corruption at the top is not a problem (in fact, it is much more influential in the long run than corruption at the bottom), but simply in the US it tends to be limited to the upper reaches of government and finance.
In many other countries, the striking contrast to this is corruption in the middle, in addition to the top and bottom. Getting a job is basically impossible in some countries without appropriate connections, bribery is rampant and expected for basic "government provided" services, public works are often mired in those same problems of bribery (not scratching enough backs, etc). Even worse is when the guardians of civil society, the police, are dangerous to approach and more often on the side of criminals, as in Russia.
The other major dividing line is the public reaction to exposure of corruption. In societies where corruption is most widespread, "revelations" are generally shrugged off (and have been probably more widely known prior to their revelation), whereas in less corrupt economies, there is at least some backlash against corruption, rather than simple apathy or active suppression. Being a whistleblower in the US can be bad for your job. Being a whistleblower in other countries (as shown by many of the posts pointing out other instances where political opponents have been assassinated, etc) can result in indefinite incarceration and torture, perhaps with an "accidental" death in prison.
The advent of youtube, on the other hand, gives a voice to those who would be otherwise suppressed. Take the story of Imad Kabir [bloomberg.com], an Egyptian taxi driver. He was arrested (without charges) for participating in a fight. He was subsequently sodomized with a broomstick, which was video taped by the perpetrators. They were so sure of their immunity that they showed it to his co-workers, perhaps as a warning. When Kabir initially complained, he was actually prosecuted and jailed for assaulting an officer (dating back to his original assault arrest), but as the youtube video spread on various blogs, the officers were finally arrested. Without the internet, the officers who tortured Kabir probably would still be doing that kind of shit. Even the people who did post it to their blogs were threatened by the authorities.
"Foreign agents" (Score:2, Insightful)
"An interior ministry source accused him of working for foreign agents"
Oh, yes. Because it's so unbelievable that police could become corrupt in any country, or that there might be police willing to speak out about it. Especially in Russia. It's so much more plausible that an agent of some foreign country put them up to it. That must be it. Corruption? What corruption. There's no corruption in Russia.
Instead of being in denial, or blaming everyone else for it, how about dealing with the problem?
Re:Dead man walking (Score:5, Insightful)
I think you are forgetting that the man is appealing to Putin, not against him, and very respectfully, too. It's an old Russian tradition - to appeal to the czar against evil officials. Putin rather likes playing rescuer, swooping in and punishing the evildoers. So it may well turn out allright for him.
Re:Corruption or complacency... (Score:5, Insightful)
Probably, he's honest when he tells about corruption. Speaking from experience, there are almost no honest policemen in Russia.
For example, road police is _completely_ corrupted.
Re:Dead man walking (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Dead man walking (Score:5, Insightful)
Russia basically went from a third-world country to a world super-power, at one point even winning the space race. Education was free, there was no unemployment. For the people who remained, as long as they kept their mouth shut, life wasn't bad.
Russia was built up in many ways on the back of slave labor. And yet, here is the crucial point: most people weren't slaves. Most people learned to keep their mouths shut. Most people did ok.
Go read Machiavelli. It is ok for a dictator to oppress a minority in order to favor the majority, but it is essential to keep the populace happy enough. Dictators around the world have shown that if you don't learn this lesson, you will not be in power for long. If Putin fails at that, he will be deposed one way or another.
Re:Suggestion (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Suggestion (Score:3, Insightful)