Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
The Internet News

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."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Russian Whistleblower Cop Arrested

Comments Filter:
  • According to Alexei in the indictment were not listed his specific criminal acts, but simply stated that he committed fraud. They say investigators have not found everything, because detailed charges will be filed Dymov later. In addition, it is not against the CCP [], was handed a resolution to bring an accused on the pretext that it is "secret" character.

    So he is being held until final charges are issued? Sounds like something that would happen in every country.

    • by sopssa ( 1498795 ) *

      To add to this, you need to pay big sums of money so you could bail out in US.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        You are misinformed. He would be released without paying a penny in the US. In fact they would not arrest him until they were ready to arraign him since he is a police officer, and then he would be released on his own recognizance [wikipedia.org]. Watch a few episodes of Law and Order some time. While it isn't wholly accurate, this part is certainly accurate.

        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
        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by digitalunity ( 19107 )

          If you haven't seen it already, watch this video.

          The Largest Street Gang In America [republicbroadcasting.org]

          I came from Portland, OR, which is sadly featured repeatedly in this short movie. I really wish someone could do some sort of satellite hack and force the entire country to watch this video, just once in their lifetime.

          People really need to open their eyes and reevaluate what level of force police should be allowed to use against non-compliant persons. The most tragic cases highlighted in that video are those where police wer

          • I know there's probably no point in talking to someone who thinks that "Republic Broadcasting Network" is a good source of news, but I gotta ask ... was there some point to that video?

            • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

              Mostly, that if your SlashID is c6gunner or something similar you are probably part of the problem and don't think that there is one ;-)
              • Cute :) Seriously, though, you're not actually going to try and defend that crap, are you? Those "filmmakers" make Michael Moore look like a paragon of truth and honesty.

                Oh, and btw, my "SlashID" is that bunch of numbers beside my username.

                • "Oh, and btw, my "SlashID" is that bunch of numbers beside my username."

                  Actually, Slashdot calls it a Nickname not a username (see the login page). The number next to it is your UID [slashdot.org]. Only a fascist would think that a number is a suitable way to ID someone ;-)

                  • Actually, Slashdot calls it a Nickname not a username

                    Subscriptions [slashdot.org]:

                    Otherwise put your real name, username or anything else you deem appropriate. If you leave this field blank the message will default to containing your Slashdot username.

                    Feeds [slashdot.org]:

                    Where you see $username below, substitute the URI-encoded username of the user in question (such as Clifton+Wood).

                    Only a fascist would think that a number is a suitable way to ID someone ;-)

                    There's no place like 127.0.0.1

                • Cute :) Seriously, though, you're not actually going to try and defend that crap, are you? Those "filmmakers" make Michael Moore look like a paragon of truth and honesty.

                  Oh, and btw, my "SlashID" is that bunch of numbers beside my username.

                  Have you been drinking today?

          • If I had time to hightail it to the country, I'd like to see all police stop work for a week just to show idiots like you who the "real" criminals are. You would be crying for the police to come back within a day.
            • So the police are a big gang protecting us from several other gangs (rather ineffectively at that). And because we can't stand up on our own, we have to bend over double for the police gang?

              Nice. That sort of logic actually glorifies sending PEOPLE to prison to get raped.

            • "If I had time to hightail it to the country, I'd like to see all police stop work for a week just to show idiots like you who the "real" criminals are. You would be crying for the police to come back within a day.

              Well your SlashID scares the hell out of me, but luckily for us you are too busy hightailing it to Missouri [wikipedia.org] from Canada because you are afraid of the cold. The very thought of how dangerous you must be has me shivering in the boots I would kick your head in with if you actually had the stupidity

              • What threat? You are the one making threats. I never said anything about kicking anyone's head in. So you have defined yourself as a pansy ass loser. Good on you. I hope you are taking your medication. I said I would hightail it to the country because I know that if the police stopped working, the real criminals would take over and it wouldn't be safe in the cities. I think it was pretty easy to figure that out without explanation... try taking a critical reading course. It sounds like you find the thought
                • "I think it was pretty easy to figure that out without explanation... try taking a critical reading course. "

                  It would probably make more sense for you to go back and get your High School Equivalency Diploma. I concede that I misinterpreted what you wrote. I infered that since you would somehow have to go somewhere to show digitalunity who the "real" (sic) criminals are that you were going to go to where he was and show him. It hadn't occured to me that, by your own admission now, you live in an entirely

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Mitreya ( 579078 )
          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.

          I bet if those Sprinfield MA police officers were videotaped accusing their superiors of corrup

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by jhoegl ( 638955 )
      USA has a law where citizens can only be detained for 24 hours without charges.

      This can be useful in detaining people highly suspect of a crime, or in TV shows in increasing drama.
      • Re:Not final (Score:5, Informative)

        by turgid ( 580780 ) on Saturday January 23, 2010 @05:46PM (#30873318) Journal

        The UK has a law where citizens (usually brown ones with beards) can be detained for a month and a half without charge, usually in HMP Belmarsh.

        • Re:Not final (Score:4, Informative)

          by horza ( 87255 ) on Saturday January 23, 2010 @11:29PM (#30875590) Homepage

          Actually, if you fail to reveal a password to storage that may or may not contain information (except the government may decide to believe there is some) then you can go to jail for a very long time even without any charge.

          Phillip.

          • by pjt33 ( 739471 )

            Nonsense. I'm not sure what the exact name of the charge is - news reports of the only conviction I've heard of say "charged with ... offences under section 53 of RIPA [opsi.gov.uk]" - but it would be something like "Failing to comply with a notice requiring disclosure of encrypted information".

      • by sopssa ( 1498795 ) *

        He is being charged. Actually it looks to be exactly the same case, just that it's 10 days instead of 24 hours.

        The need to charge Dymov due to the fact that, for him, was elected as a preventive measure under house arrest, and prosecution must be charged within 10 days from the date of the application of preventive measures.

      • Re:Not final (Score:5, Informative)

        by MarkvW ( 1037596 ) on Saturday January 23, 2010 @05:49PM (#30873364)

        Bullshit. Mod parent way down. Parent is full of it.

        The US Constitution permits people to be held on a probable cause determination made by a policeman for up to 48 (forty-eight) hours. After 48 hours there must be judicial review of probable cause or the defendant must be released from custody. That's the Riverside case.

        A related provision requires the detained person to be charged within 72 hours of probable cause detention or released. That's the Gerstein case.

        The U.S. Constitution sets a minimum standard. States can set standards that are MORE protective of individual rights than the U.S. Constitution, but they cannot go below the constitutional standard.

        • Re:Not final (Score:4, Informative)

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 23, 2010 @06:26PM (#30873638)

          The US Constitution doesn't say anything about an absolute minimum time before being charged. Feel free to look it up, it is not in there. Court cases and Congress have determined the minimum time, but all the US Constitution has to say is that you have the right to a speedy trial (6th Amendment), that Congress can't suspend habeas corpus except during a rebellion (Art I, Sect 9), and that your rights can't be suspended without due process (14th Amendment). How long a person can be detained before being charged depends entirely on how these provisions are interpreted.

        • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

          by Anonymous Coward

          http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/23/2799553.htm [abc.net.au]

          Two unnamed US officials say 47 Guantanamo Bay detainees will be held in prison indefinitely, without charge.

          They are reportedly too dangerous to be released, but cannot be tried either because the evidence against them is too flimsy or was extracted by coercion.

          The outcome will dismay civil liberties groups who hoped US President Barack Obama would end the practice of detention without trial.

          "The reality is that although they're talking about holding

        • "The U.S. Constitution sets a minimum standard. States can set standards that are MORE protective of individual rights than the U.S. Constitution, but they cannot go below the constitutional standard."

          In Palm Beach Florida County Florida they hold people up to 33 days without filing charges . They claim that they do not have to follow Fedral Law because they are a Commonwealth. They also claim that you don't have Miranda Rights, nor do you have a right to have an attorney appointed while in jail for th

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward

        And if that pesky little law is inconvenient, you label them an "enemy combatant" and it no longer applies! Great huh?

    • by reporter ( 666905 ) on Saturday January 23, 2010 @06:19PM (#30873572) Homepage
      The bravery of the policeman who risked his life by publicizing the corruption in his police department is remarkable proof that good people who think and act like Westerners still live in Russia. That he has been arrested and imprisoned is something that everyone on Slashdot knew would happen.

      Please. We should not merely talk and type about this tragedy. We should actually do something to help this victim of the Kremlin.

      For example, we could start a fund for his legal defense and possible eventual escape from Russia to the West. For the sake of humanity, we must not allow the Kremlin to kill him. The Kremlin has already killed too many innocent people.

      If this policeman dies mysteriously in prison, then I hope that someone -- anyone -- assassinates dictator Vladimir Putin.

      • by sopssa ( 1498795 ) * <sopssa@email.com> on Saturday January 23, 2010 @06:34PM (#30873698) Journal

        While I do generally agree with your statement, this is something that really caught my eye

        is remarkable proof that good people who think and act like Westerners still live in Russia.

        possible eventual escape from Russia to the West. For the sake of humanity, we must not allow the Kremlin to kill him. The Kremlin has already killed too many innocent people.

        Can I borrow your time machine back to cold war? Being someone who has actually lived in Russia and some time in the neighboring countries too, I don't see this "Western vs Russia" thing or rant about 'Kremlin'. People in Russia are extremely good people and friendly towards another human being. Even more than in western countries or my own country, where people usually are careless about each other. There is corruptness (sometimes bad too), but you do not change everything in a few days after fallen communism. It is getting there and this is another example about it.

        But should you think "Westerners" as better persons for some reason? No. In fact, they're losing on that regard.

        • Can I borrow your time machine back to cold war?

          No you can't. Putin and Bush stole it a long time ago.

        • by 32771 ( 906153 )

          Well Russians are actually nicer people than Americans if you go by prisoners per capita. Here have a look at the map:

          http://www.nationmaster.com/red/graph/cri_pri_per_cap-crime-prisoners-per-capita&b_map=1 [nationmaster.com]

          Russia has a higher murder rate though:

          http://www.nationmaster.com/red/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita&b_map=1 [nationmaster.com]

          Now I'm conflicted. How do you define nice again?

        • Mr Putin, I didn't know you had a slashdot account. How's the weather?

          Are we talking about the same friendly Russia that genocides population of "unfriendly" countries and installs puppet governments there to further repress the people? The same one that provokes another country into an attack in order to create jus ad bellum for an invasion and then annexes parts of that country? The one that runs exercise invasions of its neighbor near the border and claims that nuclear weapons could be used preemptively?

        • People in Russia are extremely good people and friendly towards another human being.

          In reality, this simplistic view is just as wrong as the (more prevalent) opposite one.

          The truth is that average Russians can be more friendly in close social encounters, but more hostile outside of them.

          From personal experience, if you walk up to a random person you do not know on the street, and ask for directions, you're much more likely to get a friendly response on the streets of Auckland, Vancouver or Seattle than Moscow. Similarly, if you get into some kind of trouble (e.g. beaten up by some punk) on

      • by 32771 ( 906153 )

        Invade Russia during winter at your own peril.

        http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/minard [edwardtufte.com]

      • by KGIII ( 973947 ) *

        Isn't Putin just the Prime Minister now? Term limits in Russia limited him despite his popularity as I recall. I am on a phone so I can no check.

      • by pkphilip ( 6861 )

        You make two huge mistakes in one short post:

        who think and act like Westerners

        What? you think only westerners have the courage to stand up for their convictions? Or is it that you think non-westerners cannot possibly think for themselves? I guess you haven't heard of these people before:

        Mahatma Gandhi
        Aung San Suu Kyi
        Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng
        Chinese dissident Hu Jia
        Nelson Mandela .. do I need to go on?

        If this policeman dies mysteriously in prison, then I hope that someone -- anyone -- assassinates dictator Vladimir Putin.

        Nice! calling for the head of state of one of the largest countries to be assassinated!!

  • by l0ungeb0y ( 442022 ) on Saturday January 23, 2010 @05:46PM (#30873324) Homepage Journal

    I give it 48 hours till he's found dead in his cell by apparent "suicide" by drowning himself in a pissbucket

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by digitalunity ( 19107 )

      You mean how like the CIA recently suicided 3 detainees by hanging in Guantanamo bay?

      http://harpers.org/archive/2010/01/hbc-90006368 [harpers.org]

      The article seems credible. No way I could verify it obviously but it has enough detail that I think it could be verified easily by the FBI or DOJ. If you could get them to do their job, that is.

    • by Upaut ( 670171 )
      I'll actually log in for this one...

      First, if it were me doing the "quieting of an unfavorable", I would seek anything to discredit him first. Get to his family to discredit him as a person, probably with threat of force and some other bribe. Then I would pressure his bosses to show he was on a termination list for something else, like paedophilia or something else quite heinous.

      In a case of a cop exposing corruption, and complaining about poor working conditions for the "good cops", this shitting on ever
      • by jimicus ( 737525 )

        First, if it were me doing the "quieting of an unfavorable", I would seek anything to discredit him first. Get to his family to discredit him as a person, probably with threat of force and some other bribe. Then I would pressure his bosses to show he was on a termination list for something else, like paedophilia or something else quite heinous.

        The Russian authorities have already demonstrated that they have absolutely no qualms [bbc.co.uk] about killing an unfavourable in a fairly high-profile fashion.

    • by Kijori ( 897770 )

      According to the article he's been in jail for 3 days already, so I'm not sure that's a safe bet.

  • by russotto ( 537200 ) on Saturday January 23, 2010 @05:52PM (#30873382) Journal

    Seriously, was anyone really surprised? Mess with bad cops, and you'll come to a bad end. This is unfortunately true everywhere, including the United States.

    • by wizardforce ( 1005805 ) on Saturday January 23, 2010 @06:09PM (#30873514) Journal

      No matter how common abuses of power are, they should never ever become so mundane as to not be newsworthy.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by johncadengo ( 940343 )

        Agreed. As the GP pointed out, this happens in the United States as well.

        Here [wpxi.com] is a recent story where a teenager was brutally beaten by plainclothes officers, who he alleges never identified themselves as police and he fought back because he thought he was being kidnapped. It is just horrible, and it won't stop until we make it stop.

      • No matter how common abuses of power are, they should never ever become so mundane as to not be newsworthy.

        not in Russia... Seriously there's a lot of people who have died trying to speak out the problems in Russia... former military, journalists, and the list goes on...

        Unfortunatelly when peop...

        wait there's someone at the door......

      • No matter how common abuses of power are, they should never ever become so mundane as to not be newsworthy.

        In Russia, such things have became mundane a long time ago. It was actually rather surprising that he didn't find himself arrested immediately after the video was posted. The usual accusation in such cases is libel/slander, depending on the medium.

  • by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 23, 2010 @05:55PM (#30873398)
    In Soviet Russia cops arrest you. oh wait.
  • In Soviet Russia, police corrupt you!
    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      In present-day Soviet Russia there is still no real police. There is Militsiya [wikipedia.org] !!!

      • It is really just police in all but name. It's just an artifact of the time when Soviet Russia, in true communist spirit, had no bourgeois imerialist "ministers", but rather "people's commissars", and no reactionary "army officers", but rather "squad/platoon/company/... commander". The "revolutionary" names were mostly replaced with traditional ones by Stalin, but "militia" remained.

  • by b4upoo ( 166390 ) on Saturday January 23, 2010 @05:56PM (#30873416)

    Did he lessen the status of corrupt bosses or the supposed glory of the state. Frankly regardless of which nation does this sort of thing the truth is that human history is dark and wicked and anyone foolish enough to actually believe that any nation's history is glorious needs a mental health professional and a lot of appointments.

    • anyone foolish enough to actually believe that any nation's history is glorious needs a mental health professional and a lot of appointments.

      Good luck getting 75% of the American public into therapy. We pretty much did away with public funding for mental health services some years ago...

    • by couchslug ( 175151 ) on Saturday January 23, 2010 @06:18PM (#30873566)

      Russia is just following its normal course, nothing to see there and nothing new to expect.

      "anyone foolish enough to actually believe that any nation's history is glorious needs a mental health professional and a lot of appointments."

      Glory isn't neat and pretty and seemless, but it certainly exists.

      Consider the Soviet soldier, who despite being horribly treated by his own government contributed more than any other group to destroying the Wehrmacht. Stalingrad and the many other brutal battles like it indeed had "glorious" outcomes, for glory is when man triumphs over such terrible adversity even it comes from other men.

      BTW one thing the Commies got right is war memorials that reflect the sacrifice of their people. Contemplate Mamayev Kurgan sometime...

      • by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 23, 2010 @06:54PM (#30873848)

        Any memorials to the 3,000,000 Ukrainians Stalin starved to death for fun? The KGB put posters up at the time saying "It is considered barbaric to eat your children" because people were eating their own children's bodies to try to stay alive. Stalin did not like cannibalism, even if he caused it. What a guy!!

        • BTW one thing the Commies got right is war memorials that reflect the sacrifice of their people.

          Any memorials to the 3,000,000 Ukrainians Stalin starved to death for fun?

          Non sequitur much? What does Holodomor has to do with Soviet WW2 memorials?

          By the way, the causes of Holodomor are still very much a debated issue. It doesn't help when both sides are actively falsifying documents. As one recent example, the official, state-run Holodomor "genocide memorial" exhibition in Ukraine used photos from - take that! - U.S. Great Depression [youtube.com], with captions claiming them to be photos of victims of Holodomor.

    • "Frankly regardless of which nation does this sort of thing the truth is that human history is dark and wicked and anyone foolish enough to actually believe that any nation's history is glorious needs a mental health professional and a lot of appointments."

      Maybe you could let him have your slot. The sessions clearly haven't done you much good ;-)

  • Sorry to say it, but this guy was on a "suicide mission". Whistleblower in Russia? The State Police are bad enough, the other guys are the Russian Mob. Good grief, either he's not married, or his wife has wisely left him bay now.
    • So was Ghandi.

      The righteous don't give a f*** for their cause is more important than self.

    • by horza ( 87255 )

      I'm sure your trophy wife will stick by you, unless you suffer an financial misfortune. I'm guessing he may have children, in which case he may hope they grow up in a world that is a better place than he has had to endure.

      Phillip.

  • If you mess with the bear, you have to be prepared for the claws.

    In most CIS countries the police are corrupt. They have to be to survive, as their official pay is between 50 to 200 USD per month. And you need about 500 USD, so do the math... And you can see the picture.... Now if you also count the men in uniform who own cars that cost upwards of 6 figures "While making 200$"..

    Or this guy:
    http://tap-the-talent.blogspot.com/2008/12/judge-who-borrowedharvested-2mhr-2m.html [blogspot.com]

    Got the money via an OIU...

    In these

    • by Kijori ( 897770 )

      In most CIS countries the police are corrupt. They have to be to survive, as their official pay is between 50 to 200 USD per month. And you need about 500 USD, so do the math...

      I don't disagree with your overall assessment that the police are often corrupt, but the figures you give are a bit off - pay for a police officer in Russia starts at about 400 dollars a month (11,000 rubles), and outside Moscow you can certainly survive on that - when I was living there last year I could easily buy a day's worth of groceries for 100 rubles (~4 dollars), and I wasn't trying to save money - food grown domestically is just very cheap. And my rent was about 1000 rubles a month - ~$33.

      Again, th

  • by Anonymous Coward

    Russia, Iran, China, all great examples of what happens when the people get their own way. Some clever bastard comes along and dupes them.

    Russia: you overthrew your terrible govt, you had some semblance of democracy, now you have Putin.
    Iran: You had democracy, you had the shah, you overthrew the shah, then you voted for a dictatorship again. Good job.
    China: you had a civil war, multiple citizens based movements, you ended up with a shitty one. At least you let it happen right?

    Out of all 3 China probably had

    • Dude, the only period Russia had with some semblance of democracy was between 1. July and 24 October 1917.

    • France: Sarkozy

      US: Bush and now a clipped Obama blamed for not being able to instantly change everything the republicans did wrong so to punish him, you give the republicans even more power.

      Britain: Oh okay these guys never had a revolution but still. Blair?

      Holland: Bakellende.

      Australia, Japan... the list goes on and on.

      As Douglas Adams said, people are a problem.

    • Russia: you overthrew your terrible govt, you had some semblance of democracy, now you have Putin.

      You do understand why Russia ended up with Putin, though, right?

      Russia had democracy, alright. It was also happy to get rid of the "shackles of the past", and was very naive to assume that the further it gets away from them, the better. So it subscribed to the most radical liberal economic (libertarian, for you Americans) theories there were at that point, and started to implement them at full force. Any negative changes were viewed as temporary side effects that would have to be endured until we finally ge

  • by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 23, 2010 @07:02PM (#30873912)

    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.

    • by Theleton ( 1688778 ) on Saturday January 23, 2010 @07:46PM (#30874168)

      I'm sure you're right, but it's also true that most whistle-blowers have petty and selfish motives, and that they are often driven by personal grudges (which they tend to have a lot of, since they are generally quarrelsome and problematic people). Deep Throat apparently exposed Watergate because he was bitter about losing a promotion.

      It takes an unreasonable person to go up against the system and against the culture of one's organization. These people may not be personally admirable in the way we might like for a Hollywood good-guy/bad-guy story, but that doesn't make whatever revelations they provide less important. Nor does it make it OK to persecute them for it.

      Now maybe Dymovsky was arrested for some other shit he was involved in, but given Russia's history with internal critics, that would not be my first guess.

    • His own ex-wife has called him mentally unbalanced.

      Because of course, when I want the straight, unbiased scoop on someone, I always look to their ex-spouse.

      *facepalm*

    • by horza ( 87255 ) on Sunday January 24, 2010 @12:09AM (#30875894) Homepage

      I don't know if there was an extended YouTube version I didn't see, but the one I did wasn't anything of the sort.

      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.

      From what I remember, he was pointing out that the latter led to the former. I also don't remember him singling himself out for a pay rise above and beyond anybody else.

      Major Dymovsky had a habit of not coming into work for weeks at a time

      Something to do with suffering from stress, and the breakdown leading to the confession on video as he couldn't take it any more?

      there were numerous complaints about him basically alleging he himself was extorting various businesses for money before he put anything on Youtube

      That was his whole point, wasn't it? He couldn't afford not to, and in fact would be ostracized by his colleagues if he didn't.

      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.

      Fair enough.

      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.

      By saying he can't take it any more, and will quite happily quit. Obviously has designs on Putins job (not).

      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

      So he is a Russian Tiger Woods. Big deal. This has nothing to do with anything. I don't know how authentic the video appeal is, but I find the Anonymous Coward posting very unconvincing.

      Phillip.

    • Yulia Latynina who is easily the best credentialed opposition journalist in Russia

      So that Slashdotters have some frame of reference, Yulia Latynina is also the author of the following words (from her 2009 article titled "The open society needs a new McCarthy"):

      The concept of "human rights" is diametrically opposite to the concepts of "justice" and "law" ... The defense of "human rights" was born in a struggle with totalitarian regimes ... and when totalitarianism was over, the concept of "human rights" became outdated.

      Now, granted, she is an opposition journalist in Russia. However, even

  • More details (Score:2, Insightful)

    by ElusiveJoe ( 1716808 )

    Ironically, he is accused of "fraud abusing the official position" i.e. corruption. The investigation has started after "an appeal of concerned citizen" in December 2009, a month later his video post. Now, he was sentenced under accusation of threatening witnesses and is held in PTDC.

    Unfortunately, Dymovsky is pretty dumb. His speech is intermittent, unintelligent, with many errors (he is a cop after all). He admitted, that during a phone conversation (which was wire tapped) he said, that if he had been fa

  • In Soviet Russia the whistles blow you.
  • Dymovskiy is immensely known in Russia, and he get this popularity via Internet, via Youtube videos, which were shown also on many local TV stations and websites in Russia.

    His arrest is not about what he said or did. He is not a man anymore, but sort of a media symbol. And it seems this new media, the Internet, disturbs many power holders in Russia.

    They introduce a new Internet (Intranet?) with Cyrillic letters in URLs this year. They tried to ban Skype in Russian Federation.

    But the Russian Internet communi

    • by Max_W ( 812974 )

      Many people in Russia and FSU are buying computers and connect to the Internet, because they hear that it is where the action nowadays, but not on a boring controlled TV.

      The government cannot remove videos from Youtube, and it gives musicians, artists, journalists, bloggers an uncensored venue to express ideas and creativity. And it certainly attracts an audience.

    • So, what you're saying is the Russians are so backwards we should just be glad they don't make their women wear burkas, right?
      • by Max_W ( 812974 )

        I want to say that the real changes in Russian society just start to begin. Even cops like this Aleksey Dymovskiy started to notice that something is wrong, that the society has its sicknesses, which it has to address and treat, in order to heal.

  • Nothing too serious (Score:2, Informative)

    by FilatovEV ( 1520307 )
    Dymovsky was detained for making threats against the investigators, as they say. There's a criminal case opened against him, they suppose he stole 1,000 USD of governmental money while serving as a cop. Whether he did it or not, it's nothing too serious to be concerned much about him. Read in Russian: http://lenta.ru/news/2010/01/22/appregend/ [lenta.ru] Given the broad Russian fan-club of Dymovsky, no wonder the story appeared at SlashDot.
  • In Soviet Russia, you arrest cops !
  • They didn't warn your ass before they arrested you. This is progress. Russians are thankful for Putin's soft fascism. It's not the cops fault this guy has a hearing problem when he was told to cut the shit out.

Keep up the good work! But please don't ask me to help.

Working...