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Interior minister believes Tatarstan officials turned a blind eye to Dalny situation

The human resources departments must focus on prevention of crimes committed by police
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, April 19 (Itar-Tass) — Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev believes Tatarstan officials knew about what was happening at the Dalny police station, but turned a blind eye to it.

"You can hardly imagine that nobody knew about the bad situation at Dalny. They certainly knew, saw it, but preferred to turn a blind eye. In my opinion, it is criminal inaction," Nurgaliyev said at a conference on Thursday which addressed the Interior Ministry’s human resources policy.

At the new stage of the Interior Ministry's reform, special attention is paid to human resources. The human resources departments must focus on prevention of crimes committed by police.

"All the worthy things fade even because of a single violation. We're all human beings; each has strong and weak points. As a sapper, a police officer has no second chance," Nurgaliyev said.

In March, reports said a man, identified as Sergei Nazarov, was detained and brought to "Dalny." He later was hospitalized with rectum rupture and died after surgery.

According to forensic examination, the injuries were inflicted on the detainee with a blunt object. Experts also said "he could not have inflicted them on his own."

Nazarov's relatives said he was not drunk at the moment of detention and that before surgery, he said police had tortured him with a champagne bottle.

Five police officers, suspected of torturing the man, have been relieved of their duties and detained. Member of the Public Council under the Russian Interior Ministry, chief Moscow psychiatrist Boris Tsygankov said three of them had earlier been found "tentatively fit for work."

After the incident came into the limelight, a number of Kazan residents reported similar cases or threats of violence at the "Dalny" station. A new criminal case was opened against one of the arrested police on the strength of the statement by likely police abuse victim Aliya Sadykova.

The incident caused a public outcry. Earlier this week, the Investigative Committee chairman ordered to set up a special unit to investigate the crimes committed by law-enforcement personnel.