Russian court finds police officer guilty of slander for decrying corruption in YouTube videos

Russian YouTube cop found guilty of slander

MOSCOW — A Russian court says a police officer is guilty of slander for complaining on YouTube of abuse and corruption in the country’s law enforcement system.

The Novorossiisk district court says it ordered former Maj. Alexei Dymovsky to pay the equivalent of $1,800 to each of the two police officials criticized in his YouTube videos in November.

Dymovsky claims in the videos that the officials promised him a promotion if he jailed an innocent person, and forced officers to fake reports on unsolved crimes.

Within days the videos were seen by 700,000 people and provoked a public outcry in a country where people have become increasingly angry about police abuse.

Dymovsky was fired from police. He told Kommersant daily he “had nothing to pay with.”