Astrakhan court repeatedly finds 10 traffic police inspectors guilty of bribery

The Astrakhan Regional Court has repeatedly convicted ten officers of the Traffic Police (known as GIBDD) of the Regional Interior, who figured in the case of systematic bribe-taking and sentenced them to imprisonment for 3.5-8 years, the Regional Prosecutor's Office has reported today.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the GIBDD officers were detained back in January 2010 by the Department of the Russian Federal Security Bureau (FSB) for the Astrakhan Region. Initially, law enforcers reported about 19 detainees; later their number dropped to ten. The criminal case against the traffic police company commander and nine inspectors, accused of bribe-taking when at service, arrived in the Astrakhan Regional Court on October 9, 2010.

In April 2011, they were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, the maximum being 8 years in prison, under point "a", Part 4, Article 290, of the Russian Criminal Code (as amended by the Federal Law of 29.12.2010).

After sentencing, convicts' representatives stated they would seek a repeal, saying that investigators had failed to clear out the role and degree of guilt of each of the officers, while the charge was based on slander and assumptions in the absence of real proofs of guilt, including the fact of bribe itself, for taking which the inspectors had been initially detained, the RIA "Novosti" reports.

Later, the verdict was cancelled by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation; and the criminal case was sent for retrial. However, after return and reconsideration, the Regional Court has upheld its initial decision.

The sentencing was held on July 17.

The court has established that Arkady Kirsanov, the commander of Company 1 of Special Battalion-1 of the Road-and-Post Service (known as DPS), had organized a systematic collection of money from his subordinates, who gave him the money, received by them, in particular, as bribes extorted from drivers who passed through the stationary DPS posts of Astrakhan.

Bribes from drivers were collected for non-drawing up protocols on administrative offences and for free passage of vehicles through DPS posts without any checks of the vehicles, cargo documents and driving licenses, the Prosecutor's Office reports.

As a result, all the defendants were found guilty of taking bribes in the form of money for inaction in favour of bribe-givers and punished by imprisonment.

The former company commander Arkady Kirsanov was again sentenced to the longest term - eight years at a high security colony, three inspectors - seven years each, two more officers - three and a half years each of same category colony. Four others received seven years of conditional imprisonment with four years of probation, says the website of the Prosecutor's Office of the Astrakhan Region.