Police tops Russia’s corruption chart

Most of the Russian officials jailed on corruption charges in 2008 were working for the police. Additionally, 1300 Russians were sentenced for accepting bribes in 2008.

The Head of the Supreme Court, Vyacheslav Lebedev, said 31 per cent of this group were from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (the police ruling body), 20 per cent worked in healthcare, 12 per cent were teachers and 9 per cent were municipal employees. Another 2.5 per cent were from the prison service and 2 per cent from customs services.

Lebedev also said most corruption cases dealt with rather small sums of money. 81 per cent were convicted for accepting bribes not exceeding 30.000 Rubles (about $US 1.000).

25 percent of those convicted of receiving small bribes were imprisoned while the remainder received conditional sentences.

Meanwhile, the General Prosecutor’s Office reports that in 2008 the violations of anti-corruption laws doubled in comparison with 2007. According to their data, 1642 officials, including 62 MP’s of various levels, three judges, eight prosecutors and 66 investigators were convicted on corruption charges in 2008.

Russia’s President, Dmitry Medvedev, announced the start of a war on corruption after his inauguration last May and proposed a package of bills to fight this ‘disease.’