Russia’s Investigative Committee has announced that it had created a special unit to investigate crimes allegedly committed by police.
The committee's decision to form the unit follows a spate of reports of police torture in the country's police stations and detention centers.
Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev was forced to report to parliament last week about a spike in reported police violence and other abuses.
The new unit's investigators will be working closely with Federal Security Service (FSB) personnel.
Reported police torture has been a problem in Russia for years but concerns resurfaced following the death in March of a 52-year-old man in the central city of Kazan, who was beaten and raped with a champagne bottle while in custody.
The committee's decision to form the unit follows a spate of reports of police torture in the country's police stations and detention centers.
Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev was forced to report to parliament last week about a spike in reported police violence and other abuses.
The new unit's investigators will be working closely with Federal Security Service (FSB) personnel.
Reported police torture has been a problem in Russia for years but concerns resurfaced following the death in March of a 52-year-old man in the central city of Kazan, who was beaten and raped with a champagne bottle while in custody.
!["[The local authorities] don't look favorably on me. I know all these people's tricks," says Bulgarian journalist Ivan Atanasov. (file photo)](https://gdb.rferl.org/01000000-c0a8-0242-3538-08db25627f77_cx0_cy6_cw0_w100_r1.jpg)
!["[The local authorities] don't look favorably on me. I know all these people's tricks," says Bulgarian journalist Ivan Atanasov. (file photo)](https://gdb.rferl.org/01000000-c0a8-0242-3538-08db25627f77_cx0_cy6_cw0_w33_r1.jpg)
