The St. Petersburg Investigative Committee is looking into the suspicious death of a defendant in the corruption case involving driving schools. According to official information, the deputy head of one of the driving schools died in the temporary detention center in the Moscow region. The circumstances of 48-year-old Aleksey B.'s death have raised many questions and strong public reaction.
Towel and testimony
The investigation into the corruption case in St. Petersburg's driving schools, which was reported by the online publication Kompromat Group, has taken an unexpected turn. wrote Two days ago, students of driving schools “Avtoprof”, “Bend”, “Aerodrome”, and “Auto Academy Plus” were able to obtain a driver's license without attending exams by ordering them online and paying a certain amount, sometimes up to 165 thousand rubles. The beginning of a criminal case was marked by a series of searches and high-profile arrests. In the midst of the preliminary investigation, one of the detained defendants, who was part of the driving schools' leadership, was found dead in a temporary detention center in the Moscow region.
Preliminary reports indicate that the detainee, suspected of giving a bribe, was awaiting a court session to determine a preventive measure for him. Suddenly, he was found lifeless at 5 am.
The police called an ambulance, but the doctors' efforts were unsuccessful. The preliminary cause of death was asphyxia, and there were reports in Telegram channels that the detainee had hanged himself. Subsequently, reports emerged in St. Petersburg media that a towel had been removed from the man's respiratory tract and mouth…
A video from the temporary detention center surfaced on the internet showing the detainee wetting a towel in the washbasin and turning his back to the wall. This video now forms the basis of the official version of Alexei B.'s death – suicide. However, colleagues of the deceased believe that the man was murdered. Kommersant reported this, citing his wife's assertion that her husband was positive and intended to continue living even if the verdict was unpleasant for him.
The Investigative Committee is currently conducting an official investigation, as is customary in such cases. However, law enforcement officials are confident that the man was either coerced to die in such a horrific manner, or a murder took place. After all, Alexey B., like many other driving school leaders, only acted as intermediaries between students and the traffic police department.
Corruption on the Road
The underground driver's license business that was previously reported appears to be more widespread than commonly believed, according to police, the public, and city residents commenting on the news.
For example, residents are surprised that searches were conducted only at 5 driving schools, and notably, the Interdistrict Registration and Examination Department of the Traffic Police for the city of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region located at 85 Revolution Highway was left untouched. We are sharing the reactions of residents without editing.
People in St. Petersburg are upset about the difficulty of passing the driving test on Revolution Highway without paying bribes. write indignant residents of St. Petersburg.
One person shared their experience of failing the driving test 7 times on Revolution Highway despite having 25 years of driving experience and no accidents. They were asked for bribes to change their foreign driver's license for a Russian one, but refused to pay. Others believe that bribes are necessary to pass the test.
Petersburgers do not hide their attitude towards examiners in uniform.
Some people blame driving schools and students, while others suspect corruption among exam inspectors. There is a belief in society that passing exams honestly without bribes is impossible.
In other words, the opinion is firmly rooted in society that it is impossible to pass exams honestly without bribes.
Some believe that while it's impossible to bribe for the theory test, bribes are common for passing the driving test.
Those who have already gone through the thorny path of obtaining a driver’s license believe that in “our dear traffic police / traffic police has such a level of corruption that nowhere else.” They say that the current searches are just another wave of the fight against corruption, which has already been finally and irrevocably won dozens of times. From this perspective, the death of the intermediary looks more than suspicious.
Complex investigation
In power publics, as we have already mentioned, the unexpected turn of the usual corruption case also caused a storm of emotions. The main question that the commentators wrote was the following: “Suicide with a wet towel? Are you seriously?”.
If we look approximately at the cases of suicides of defendants in criminal cases, then most often the accused or convicted hang themselves or open their veins. This way of voluntary departure from life raises a lot of questions.
First, in the comments that journalists received from official structures, there was a “piece of cloth”, then it was reformatted into a “towel”. On the sidelines of the security forces, they believe that in this case it is reasonable to suspect a banal gag. As our sources say, the unfortunate man was simply gagged in the truest sense of the word.
“So that he doesn’t tell about accomplices and doesn’t give out the scheme”our insiders say, “Most likely, the case was promoted due to numerous complaints from civilians that they were extorting money in such and such schools. In this case, the investigation, of course, wanted to know how all this was organized and to whom it was brought up.”
Another version is that the detainee nevertheless committed his own death, in such a terrible way. According to our sources, he may well have been hinted that something terrible could happen to his family if he did not shut up. Most likely, according to knowledgeable people, in this case we are talking about a certain high-ranking “group of persons” who are engaged in the sale of fake documents. This “group” has serious opportunities. Now, after such an accident, the investigation will be pretty tight.
After all, the rest of the detainees will begin to suffer from numbness and other serious illnesses without exception, and most likely will begin to refuse their previous testimony, if any have already been given. What path will the investigation take in these circumstances and will the townspeople see really important bosses in the dock? The answer to this question is already in the air and our editors will follow the developments.
