From Echo Moskvy
Approximately 500 people arrested in Moscow markets
They are being investigated for involvement in crimes after a recent incident when one of the immigrant sellers seriously beat up a policeman.
The clean-up of the capital’s markets is in full swing, there are dozens of immigrants that are being taken to the police station. In total, the police have investigated 500 people, but there is more to come, the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ press office told journalists. There, they pointed out that today’s preventative actions, aimed at decriminalising the markets, will continue. It was reported that all those arrested are being fingerprinted. Some of them have been charged with administrative offences.
The wide-scale investigation is linked to the beating of a police officer at the Matveyevskiy market in the west of Moscow. Last Saturday, 20 people from the southern regions [of Russia] were trying to free a man under suspicion of raping a 15-year-old girl.
As a result, one of the law enforcement officers was punched in the head with brass knuckles, and was taken to intensive care with a severe head injury. The police arrested two of the attackers, but the man who used the brass knuckles to hit the police officer managed to escape.
After the incident, the head of police in the Ochakovo-Matveyevskoe region was removed from his post.
The footage below shows the events at the market that led to this crack-down. Please be warned, there are images of the injured policeman.
Comments from Echo Moskvy
vladimir_veteran:
A demonstration of force. It should have happened earlier, when they killed a detective.
desaqz:
What’s all this “parade” for? If we arrested the older men from the Muslim diaspora in Moscow, all the rest, including their extended family, would be standing on the cops‘ doorstep.
puttup:
…In my opinion this is just a catwalk – it’s a disgrace for Russian law enforcement and the governmental system…
rumbarash:
It’s a reaction that was completely predictable by both society and the criminal underworld! I think that this sort of thing happened in the States and Europe too, back in the day. And a society as corrupt from top to bottom as Russia, God himself ordered it! Without the periodical cleaning of today’s Russia, it’s impossible to fight crime, because corruption affects everyone and everything!
puttup: (responding to above)
“corruption affects everyone and everything!” …That is a disgrace too…
datan:
We always need an impetus to do good things. It’s a shame that it’s sad sometimes.
rumbarash:
Why did the dinosaurs die out? Late reaction to a stimulus clearly! Not that I’m drawing any analogies!
gera1900:
When a man attacks you without wearing a uniform, you can’t tell if he’s a policeman or a gangster. We need to regulate the work of the police – only uniformed policemen can make arrests. But of course, the Caucasian is a scumbag
mikhailodessa:
Is this a flash of racism in the Moscow police? How should I understand this?
alnik0475: (responding to above)
Hmm, maybe, it could be a rehearsal for the “Night of the Long Knives”, on which they’ll come down hard on the Southern citizens.
mamiluk:
“Cleaning up” as a method of deterrence is all they’re capable of.
sir_ruf: (responding to above)
Can’t you say what else could they do?
mamiluk: (responding to above)
They could, for example,help you to cross the road or to drive you to the hospital if you’re helpless, or find your stolen car or coat… you know, you can do lots of useful things for your fellow countrymen rather than just “arrest” them or “defend” them or “send them to jail.” We’re talking about people trusting the authorities, but there is no trust and there never will be. And unfortunately, they are only capable of dealing with it negatively (although there are exceptions, the exceptions prove the rule, and the rules are not in favour of people and society): the boundaries of good and evil are infinite, the rest is your imagination.
mihaelgemini:
When will this end?! When will the authorities FINALLY deal with it?!