A Russian police officer beat a man to death in St Petersburg, Interfax news agency reported on Thursday, the second such killing to be reported this week and the latest in a series of scandals involving the force.
The victim was hospitalised two weeks ago after the attack, but died of his injuries including a blunt abdominal trauma, Interfax reported, quoting an unnamed source in the city’s law enforcement agencies.
Russia’s police and entire legal system has come under scrutiny amid growing evidence of malpractice and corruption.
On Tuesday, three drunken Moscow police officers were detained after they beat an immigrant to death.
Separately, lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, died in jail on Nov. 16. His lawyers say he was denied medical treatment and was being illegally held. President Dmitry Medvedev ordered a probe after the case drew widespread condemnation.
Earlier this month, a junior policeman from the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk was fired after making an appeal on YouTube to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accusing senior officers of corruption, a claim dismissed by police authorities as false. (Reporting by Conor Sweeney; Editing by Angus MacSwan) (([email protected]; +7 495 775 1242; Reuters Messaging: [email protected]))
