Russian Whistleblower Cop Arrested 199
Remember the Russian cop's YouTube narrative on police corruption? Reader Max_W writes with the news that Alexei Dymovsky, the cop whose videos started a movement, was arrested (Google translation; Russian original) on January 22, 2010. He is in prison in the south of Russia. Max_W adds: "It seems only a president is allowed to have a video blog in Russia."
Join in the deadpool by posting below (Score:5, Interesting)
I give it 48 hours till he's found dead in his cell by apparent "suicide" by drowning himself in a pissbucket
Re:Not final (Score:3, Interesting)
In Springfield MA police officers who had been videotaped kicking a guy in the head were found not guilty. The judge ruled that they used "reasonable force" to subdue the subject.
So you are quite wrong on so many levels. This would definately not happen in the USA. Indeed, as I pointed out, we basically have the opposite problem here, where if you are a cop you can often quite literally get away with murder.
It's more complicated a story than it appears (Score:5, Interesting)
The Dymovsky affair is more complicated than merely a whistle blower cop who had enough, went public, and is now being prosecuted. For starters in his videos his biggest complaints arent about the corruption in the Russian police, but about low pay, long hours, not enough vacation time and not getting overtime pay for overtime hours. Basically his rants aren't about the bad Russian cops but about the bad Russian government that doesnt pay its cops and Mr. Dymovsky in particular enough money. He also signals out his immediate bosses for special attention, but this is because his bosses were trying to get him fired for various things taking BEFORE he put anything on Youtube. Major Dymovsky had a habit of not coming into work for weeks at a time and there were numerous complaints about him basically alleging he himself was extorting various businesses for money before he put anything on Youtube.
Yulia Latynina who is easily the best credentialed opposition journalist in Russia has dismissed Dymovsky as a fraud on her radio show and in editorials. His complaint isnt with the system but with his own place in it -- he is no opponent of the Kremlin, but a guy who was trying to secure his own position.
His own ex-wife has called him mentally unbalanced. He had a messy divorce involving death threats and other assorted stories fit only for the tabloids. The core of the Russian opposition has attempted to distance itself from him which is why you wont find more than a single mention of his arrest on newsru.com. Kasparov's group is the only one that is still seemingly embracing Dymovsky, but that's no surprise as they are the most discredited of the opposition movements in Russia.
Re:Not final (Score:3, Interesting)
The ability for a suspect to be released from jail depends on quite a lot of socioeconomic factors such as race, location and their ability to obtain legal representation. In most states, if you have a lawyer, you can obtain Release on own Recognizance pretty quickly if they don't plan on filing charges right away. This depends a lot on what you're suspected of doing.
As for holding people without charging them... terrorism laws have changed a lot of the governments power in this respect. Beyond even the 4th amendment and 5th amendment, the US government has shown a willingness to ignore the constitution and even international law altogether if they feel national security interests are at stake. The somewhat recent case of an extraordinary rendition of a Canadian citizen while on US soil to Syria poses significant opposition to commonly held beliefs about constitutional protection. After being tortured and returned to Canada, in 2007 he came back to the US to testify before congress about his experience and as far as I know, nothing has ever come of that hearing.
The Alien Terrorist Removal Provisions of the Omnibus Counterterrorism Act of 1995 allows for the FISA court to deport an alien suspected of terrorism based solely on classified evidence, to which the target cannot try to suppress evidence or intervene in any way including having representation at any hearings. Whether they are deported or not, they receive very little(if any) information about the proceedings or how any decision was reached. Oddly enough, after reading the entire bill, I could not find any reference anywhere describing where the persons can be deported to. In essence, our government formally legalized extraordinary rendition 15 years ago, although I doubt in many cases of extraordinary rendition that they follow the appropriate steps(however rudimentary they may be) through the FISA court. All they have to do is call it a deportation instead of rendition. And since the target cannot intervene in any proceedings of the process, they cannot suppress any evidence gathered via illegal means.
If anyone was hoping for "change", you didn't get it the way you thought you would. The Alien Terrorist Removal Provisions of this bill were sponsored by your very own Joe Biden. Clinton formulated the bill but it wasn't until the Oklahoma bombing that the political will to pass it existed.
So if you're a foreigner, in the US on a Visa, you can be held indefinitely or extradited to Syria or any other country willing to torture you on our behalf.
Either you're with us or you're against us. You have nothing to hide, right comrade?
Re:Not final (Score:1, Interesting)
I really, really detest people who follow up an insult with a smiley.