Officer gets life as Medvedev gets tough
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A Russian police officer has been convicted of murder and given life in jail. Shocking CCTV footage shows the attack, which cost two people their lives. The ruling follows President Dmitriy Medvedev’s announcement of sweeping reforms to combat corruption and incompetence in the police force.
Denis Yevsyukov was convicted to life in jail today for killing two people and wounding seven others during a shooting spree in a Moscow supermarket last April.And the verdict seems set to signal a new era of tough sentences for law breaking police officers.
The day before the verdict, President Medvedev dismissed seventeen police generals in one stroke. Among them were two deputy interior ministers, Nikolay Ovchinnikov and Arkadiy Yedelev.
Medvedev now wants to cut the police force in half, introduce a new procedure for the selection of officers and set anti-corruption measures into motion.
The reforms are being introduced in accordance with the wave of scandals that have hit the police force in recent years.
In 2009, the police force were accused of crimes including soliciting bribes, murder, rape, kidnapping and drug pushing.
Critics claim most police officers get away with their crimes and those who are convicted receive short sentences.But the president seems intent on the crackdown and told journalists: “This is only the beginning.”
