Residents in the Siberian city of Tomsk held a picket on Sunday to protest police abuses, following the death of a journalist who was beaten and sexually abused in a police drunk tank.
The 47-year-old journalist, whose name has not been disclosed due to the ongoing investigation, spent almost two weeks in a coma after the January 4 assault before losing his fight for life on Wednesday.
A police officer has been charged. 26-year-old Alexei Mityayev said the stress of his complicated personal life prompted the attack, which came after the victim had been on an extended drinking binge as part of New Year celebrations.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev to dismiss Viktor Grechman, head of the Tomsk Region police, from his post over the incident, just one in a number of recent cases of police brutality in Russia.
Medvedev last month ordered extensive reform of the Interior Ministry in an effort to deal with police brutality.
Reports of police brutality are increasingly common in Russia. In the last 18 months, Russian police officers have been convicted or charged with burning a suspect to death, shooting sprees, a beheading, and rape.
TOMSK, January 24 (RIA Novosti)
