Russia jails crusading ex-cop for 5 years

MOSCOW: A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced an activist for police labour rights to five years in prison for extortion and distribution of pornography.

Arrested in May 2020, former policeman Vladimir Vorontsov has been in detention for nearly three years. Vorontsov, who quit the Moscow police force in 2017 after 13 years, has denied any wrongdoing.

Moscow’s Lyublinsky district court on Tuesday found him guilty of extortion, distribution of pornography and insulting a representative of the authorities, said OVD-Info, a human rights monitor tracking political persecution.

Supporters say the real reason for Vorontsov’s punishment was his Police Ombudsman project, a series of social media accounts dedicated to protecting police officers’ rights and exposing abuse by their superiors.