The committee said the move was prompted by the publication of an online petition created by several human rights organizations, including Memorial, and signed by over 3,000 people requesting the formation of a special unit dedicated to investigating police crimes.
An article published earlier this month in Russian Reporter magazine addressed the nature of the investigative process during the recent police scandal in Kazan that resulted in the death of a 52-year-old man after he was allegedly beaten by police and sodomized with a champagne bottle. The article showed that investigators sent to conduct an inquiry into police activity often work with the same policemen everyday as part of their regular work, creating the potential for conflict between colleagues, Lenta.ru reported.
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