Ural ex-police officer put on trial after secret burial scandal

RIA Novosti reports this.

As the agency points out, in February 2023, in the village of Shalya, workers digging a grave in a local cemetery came across an illegal burial with three bodies.

The called police limited themselves to recording the gravediggers’ explanations and asked to bury the remains, and the next day the coffin with the pensioner’s body was “officially” placed in the same grave.

The general public became aware of what happened only recently from Shali ex-precinct officer Yuri Zolotko. In his opinion, the leadership of the local department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not want to understand the situation because it is connected with the so-called funeral mafia. At the same time, as Zolotko noted, in this case there are all the signs of articles about desecration of the bodies of the dead and fraud.

The district police officer reported the incident to the Investigative Committee, telling about other violations. As a result, the bodies were exhumed and studied, but nothing criminal was discovered. Subsequently, the Investigative Committee noted that they did not see any crime in the actions of the leaders of the Shali police department, while Zolotko himself became involved in a criminal case at the end of December - he was accused of exceeding official authority.

The former police officer is already charged with several episodes of using force against detainees.

“According to the Investigative Committee, in the fall of 2020, a police officer allegedly hit the detainee three times - twice with his hand and once with his foot, “causing him physical pain.” In 2021, eight strikes were counted. Moreover, both victims were previously convicted,” the agency writes.

There are also other charges, including minor bodily harm.

At the same time, it is added that before his arrest, Zolotko had a number of legal proceedings with his superiors for various reasons: deprivation of bonuses, non-payment of due wages, disciplinary action, preventing him from carrying a service weapon, illegal dismissal. In almost all cases, the judges recognized that Zolotko was right and ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs to pay financial compensation.