“Moskovsky Komsomolets”: “One jump ahead of Putin”
Major Dymovsky sacked without waiting for inspectors from Moscow.
At 5 p.m. on Sunday, Major General Gribakin, the public relations chief of the Interior Ministry, announced that Minister Nurgaliyev had ordered an inspection of the Internal Affairs Department of the city of Novorossiisk in connection with Major Dymovsky's video address to Prime Minister Putin. Lieutenant-General Kucheruk, chief of the Krasnodar Territory's Internal Affairs department, was ordered to suspend Major Dymovsky for the time of the inspection. A mere two hours later, at 7 p.m., Major-General Gribakin broke more news: the check was carried out, the allegations were not confirmed, and Dymovsky was sacked for libel.
Major Dymovsky was dismissed from his job at supersonic speed. He was swatted down before he was even able to say everything he wanted to.
Clearly, laws do not apply in Lieutenant-General's Kucheruk's fiefdom, which was precisely what Major Dymovsky had been trying to tell Putin. Regardless, everybody was stunned by how quickly his claim was confirmed. Even Major-General Gribakin broke his usual habit and stayed tightlipped throughout Monday. Major Dymovsky was silent, as well. At any rate, he could not be reached by phone, even though the day before he had been giving interviews to journalists left and right. To recap his main message: he cannot live on a salary of 14,000 roubles, he's outraged that he doesn't get days off, and he's angry because of his superiors' arbitrary behaviour. But he doesn't want to quit, in spite of everything.
Apparently, serving with the Interior Ministry has its benefits, if policemen, clutching at their jobs like drowning men, are anything to go by. Minister Nurgaliyev indicated that he was preparing to report the results of the inspection to the president and the prime minister. But it's not that simple. Since Dymovsky's appeal was addressed directly to Putin, Putin has no choice but to react.
Of course, he can choose not to. But what if he says that Dymovsky's claims were in fact rather thought provoking and the Internet explodes with video addresses? That could trigger a tsunami that would pull down the entire Interior Ministry.
Since this has not yet happened, however, let's go ahead and congratulate all the policemen on their professional holiday, Militia (Police) Day. Let's congratulate everyone - Minister Nurgaliyev, Lieutenant-General Kucheruk, Major-General Gribakin and even Major Dymovsky, who is still a policeman even though he's been swatted down like a mosquito.
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Expert's comment
"A policeman can only be suspended for the period of the inspection", our expert, a member of the law enforcement agency, explained. "He can be sacked after the check or investigation, and after a court ruling comes into force, if criminal charges have been brought against him. He might get away with a reprimand or a notice that he was simply not fit for the job. Really grave reasons are needed to sack him. So, if he wanted to, he could go seek redress in a court of law."
Yulia Kalinina
