VLADIVOSTOK -- A police chief in Russia's Far East has been sacked in connection with allegations of abuse against three suspected members of a group of antipolice vigilantes, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.
Officials said on June 24 that Colonel Aleksandr Makoveyev, the head of the Kirov district police department in the Primorye region, has been fired.
Primorye regional police department officials told journalists on June 24 that the local prosecutor and Interior Ministry are investigating claims that the three detainees were beaten by police after they were arrested early this month.
A group of five young men -- whom the Russian media dubbed "Russian Rambos" and compared to Robin Hood -- is believed to have conducted at least three attacks on police, killing one police officer and wounding three others.
The father of one of the detainees has said his son was responding to abuse the group had suffered at the hands of police.
On June 10-11, police detained the three after a long siege. Another two men were either killed or committed suicide during an operation to arrest them in the town of Ussuriisk.
The parents of the arrested youngsters complained later that their sons were severely beaten by police after their arrest.
More than 200 people protested in the Primorye city of Kirovsky on June 13 against "lawlessness" by local police and to commemorate the deaths of the two members of the "Robin Hood" gang.
Officials said on June 24 that Colonel Aleksandr Makoveyev, the head of the Kirov district police department in the Primorye region, has been fired.
Primorye regional police department officials told journalists on June 24 that the local prosecutor and Interior Ministry are investigating claims that the three detainees were beaten by police after they were arrested early this month.
A group of five young men -- whom the Russian media dubbed "Russian Rambos" and compared to Robin Hood -- is believed to have conducted at least three attacks on police, killing one police officer and wounding three others.
The father of one of the detainees has said his son was responding to abuse the group had suffered at the hands of police.
On June 10-11, police detained the three after a long siege. Another two men were either killed or committed suicide during an operation to arrest them in the town of Ussuriisk.
The parents of the arrested youngsters complained later that their sons were severely beaten by police after their arrest.
More than 200 people protested in the Primorye city of Kirovsky on June 13 against "lawlessness" by local police and to commemorate the deaths of the two members of the "Robin Hood" gang.