09.05.09

The presidential press service reported yesterday that President Dmitri Medvedev has issued a decree dismissing Police Colonel General Vladimir Pronin, head of the Moscow Directorate of the Interior Ministry. No official reasons for the dismissal have been given. Unofficial sources in the Kremlin and the Interior Ministry admit that it was entirely predictable: punishment for an unprecedented incident in a southern district of Moscow in the early hours of Monday, April 27. Police Major Denis Yevsyukov, head of the Tsaritsyno police station, walked into the Ostrov supermarket while drunk and opened fire - killing three people and wounding seven. It was later reported that the weapon he used wasn't his own firearm, but a gun on the missing weapons list.

In commenting on this event, Pronin said that Major Yevsyukov was "a good professional." And now General Pronin has lost the job he had held for the past eight years, earning an "unsinkable" reputation.

Vladimir Pronin became Moscow's police chief in 2001. The first dismissal rumors arose in June 2002, when a mob of soccer fans rioted in central Moscow, leaving two people dead and 72 injured. Pronin submitted his resignation, but then-Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov refused to accept it.

Pronin also kept his job after the Dubrovka Theater hostage- taking in late 2002, when 125 people died. He kept his job after a series of terrorist bombings in Moscow during 2003 and 2004: Tushino, the National Hotel, the Zamoskvoretsky metro line, the Rizhskaya metro station. But the fatal blow for Pronin's career came with the act of insanity committed by Major Denis Yevsyukov.

Obviously, the federal authorities had make some response to this extraordinary incident in the police force. It has highlighted all the entrenched "diseases" of the law enforcement system: alcohol abuse, corruption, lack of oversight. Reforming the police system is held back by shortages of manpower and funding; even as reforms have stalled in the Armed Forces, an equally complicated system. Besides, it would be pointless to tighten the screws in the police force in the current situation. The police force already suffers from chronic understaffing - given the lack of people willing to work long hours, risk their lives, and take abuse from their superiors for very low salaries. Nevertheless, a tough response to the April 27 incident was inevitable; but it should be noted that in recent years, very few senior commanders in the security and law enforcement agencies have been punished for the crimes and failures of their subordinates. In that sense, the president's decision in this case seems almost revolutionary.

Russian Politicians Divided Over Departure Of Moscow Police Chief

Moscow Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov has expressed regret over the departure of Col-Gen of the Police Vladimir Pronin from his post as chief of the Moscow Main Directorate of Internal Affairs and has also praised his work, Interfax news agency reported on 28 April. Pronin's departure was reported earlier on 28 April, although there were conflicting accounts as to whether he resigned or was sacked by Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev following a shooting at a Moscow supermarket by the head of the Tsaritsyno interior directorate, Maj Denis Yevsyukov on 26 April, which left three people dead and a further six wounded.

Luzhkov said, "If there really is such a decree (signed by Medvedev relieving Pronin of his duties), I am sorry." "Pronin was an efficient head of the (Moscow) Main Directorate of Internal Affairs. (He was) a frontline general, who did not simply go through the stages of his advancement during calm times. A lot fell to him both in Moscow and in his previous places of work. This was terrorist acts, the consequences of which he had to eliminate. And the prevention of terrorist acts and the strengthening of the Moscow police's potential - he is among those who have achieved this," he emphasized.

For his part State Duma deputy and head of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia Vladimir Zhirinovskiy considers President Medvedev's decision to get rid of Pronin correct but inadequate.

"The decision to sack the head of Moscow's police is completely correct, however it is not enough. The need for dramatic changes in the personnel policy on the whole, and above all in the power wielding structures, including in the police who are directly in contact with citizens, drew to a head a long time ago" Zhirinovskiy said. He expressed regret that it always "requires some serious reason for serious personnel changes".

Deputy chairman of Yabloko Sergey Ivanenko also believes that there is the need for serious change in the police. "The situation in the internal affairs agencies is catastrophic. Today instead of defending citizens the police often become a direct threat and this is not only in the case of the head of the Tsaritsyno interior directorate (Maj Denis Yevsyukov)," he said.

However head of the Federation Council defence and security committee Viktor Ozerov does not believe that in this case the whole Moscow law enforcement system should be judged by Yevsyukov's actions. "There is a black sheep in every family. There will always be one who by force of some circumstances or other commits inadequate acts; particularly if the person has access to weapons then the crime can have a bloody tint," Ozerov said.

Ozerov also approved of Medvedev's decision regarding Pronin's departure. "The president made absolutely the correct decision and this is a political decision," he added.

Chairman of the Russian State Duma's security committee Vladimir Vasilyev understands the reasons for Pronin's departure but at the same time noted his successes in his post.

"It is understandable that in such a situation the head answers for the subordinates," Vasilyev said. "It is never simple to work as the head of the chief directorate, particularly in Moscow," he said, adding that Pronin achieved many successes in his post as head of the main internal affairs directorate for Moscow.

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Source: Vremya Novostei (Translated by InterContact), Interfax