Crooked Cops Dismissed In Baku

A screen shot from the RFE/RL video of traffic police stops on outskirts of Baku on December 31 that led to the firing of three sergeants allegedly involved.

A spokesman for the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry says the traffic policemen in an RFE/RL video that appears to show them casually stopping motorists and taking bribes have been dismissed after an internal investigation.

The officers, who didn't look to be carrying out document checks or other enforcement duties during the stops in Qala, on the outskirts of the capital, were featured in our "Baku's Busy Traffic Police" blog post.

Interior Ministry spokesman Sadiz Gozelov added to RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service that three sergeants in the video had been identified and the relevant evidence forwarded to prosecutors.

-- Central Newsroom