Offenders' public apologies are self-promotion method for Astrakhan police

By forcing offenders to publicly apologize to the video camera, Astrakhan law enforcers are trying to artificially increase the importance of their activities, while this humiliating measure has no intended prophylactic effect, analysts have noted.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that this September, the Astrakhan Regional Branch of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) released a number of videos with apologies made by local residents for their committed offences. Thus, on September 27 and 28, two video clips were posted showing Astrakhan residents apologizing to townspeople for shooting into the air near a cafe and a restaurant; and on September 20, the branch posted a video clip with an apology for shooting from an air pistol at a bus with passengers.

The decision to use the method of preventing offenses tested in Chechnya in the form of posting videos with apologies is potentially dangerous, Elena, an Astrakhan resident, believes. She is sure that forced apologies can have a provocative effect, "especially for the regions of Southern Russia."

"We have a lot of hot-tempered and touchy people. Yes, a person has broken the law, but by forcing him to apologize in public, the police provoke him to revenge," Elena has explained.

Anton Poryvaev, a driver for one of Astrakhan enterprises with 30 years of experience, believes that "malicious violators of traffic rules should be forced to repent publicly."

Valentina Ponomaryova, a 73-year-old pensioner, wants to see public apologies not from minor offenders, but from corrupt bureaucrats.

Such repentances are acceptable "only if they are legal," Muslim Yunusov, an Astrakhan religious figure, teacher, psychologist and lawyer, believes.

"We should remember that repentances must be sincere. If a person is forced to do this, nothing good will come out of such public apologies. The person will feel humiliated and insulted ... Then he will splash out his negative energy on his relatives and colleagues," Muslim Yunusov has explained.

Mikhail Doliev, a political analyst, treats the spread of the practice of public apologies as an example of "Chechenization of the entire country."

Earlier, analysts noted that law enforcers should not force Astrakhan residents to make public apologies for certain violations.