MEDVEDEV USING MVD REFORM TO INCREASE STANDING?

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 003143

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/30/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PINR ECON KDEM RS
SUBJECT: MEDVEDEV USING MVD REFORM TO INCREASE STANDING?

REF: A. MOSCOW 2892

B. MOSCOW 2778

Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Susan Elliott for reasons 1
.4 (b) and (d).



1. (SBU) President Medvedev, capitalizing on several recent
high-profile events surrounding the Ministry of Internal
Affairs (MVD),introduced on December 24 proposals intended
to make the MVD more professional and centralized. Medvedev
has frequently discussed the need to reform the MVD since
taking office, but his recent reforms appear to be more
significant than earlier directives requiring police officers
to be more polite and helpful. He announced a 20 percent cut
in positions by 2012, higher salaries, a rotation of senior
leadership, a review of hiring practices and performance
standards, and that the budget for all police forces would
come from federal resources. Medvedev's reforms may also
dovetail with his introduction of house arrest, push to
remove limits on blood-alcohol levels to create a zero
tolerance policy for drinking and driving, and signature of a
new tax crimes law that will prevent pre-trial detention for
tax evasion and other non-violent crimes (septel). If
actually implemented, Medvedev's reforms will take time and
resources, and have served to put the MVD leadership on
notice.


2. (SBU) Multiple, highly public events in 2009 coalesced in
the last few days of December have heaped additional negative
publicity on the MVD. Former Moscow Oblast policeman Denis
Yevsyukov on December 29 "partially admitted" his guilt to
charges of murdering local residents during a shooting spree
in April that was caught on video and broadcast repeatedly in
Russian and international media. On December 29, the Public
Chamber conducted a probe into the death, while in pre-trial
detention, of lawyer Sergey Magnitsky and concluded that
prison authorities and investigators, who fall under the
purview of the MVD, mounted an organized campaign of pressure
on him that amounted to "torture," and as one committee
member said, "to some degree...premeditated murder" (reftel
A). Finally, on December 28, the Prosecutor General's
Investigative Committee announced that former Novorossisk
policeman Aleksey Dymovskiy, who in November posted widely
seen video blogs on Youtube about his knowledge of corruption
in the police ranks, would be formally charged with fraud for
denigrating fellow officers (reftel B).


3. (C) Medvedev's reform of the MVD, which remains one of
the regime's main levers for suppressing demonstrations and
dissent, also bolsters his standing within the elite. If he
could push through the reforms, it would show increased
influence and respect from the elite, and would mute liberal
and Western criticism, especially coupled with the his
initiative to hold officials responsible for their actions.
Novaya Gazeta journalist Leonid Nikitinsky told us December
28 that Medvedev had harnessed public opinion to paint
Minister of Internal Affairs Rashid Nurgaliyev into a corner
and hold him on a short leash. Nurgaliyev publicly played
down the seriousness of the reforms, and his willingness to
fully implement them, as someone viewed as close to Putin,
could provide another clue into the dynamics of the tandem.


4. (C) The reputation of the police forces in Russia has
been low for years, with Russian polling results depicting
that more than two thirds of Russians distrust the police. It
probably would take major reforms sustained over years before
public opinion toward Russia's police officers significantly
improved. Journalists and experts have highlighted that most
Soviet and Russian rulers implemented reforms of the MVD, and
generally do not see Medvedev as up to the task. Medvedev,
moreover, will continue to need to walk a fine line between
heeding public opinion, reforming an institution that
supports the ruling elite, enforcing his authority and
leadership with the elite, and balancing his efforts with
Putin.
Rubin