Vladimir Putin’s spin doctor has waded into the massive row over footage that reportedly shows police officers arresting a teenage volleyball player they are later accused of raping.
Footage seen by Central European News (CEN) reportedly shows the police officers catching the 17-year-old volleyball player being intimate with her boyfriend at the beach with one saying “You pushed me, whore. I can put you in jail” before they allegedly raped her.
The shocking incident reportedly took place in the seaside town of Anapa in the Russian Krasnodar Krai region.
The 17-year-old volleyball player had gone to the beach with her boyfriend and the pair had been being intimate when they were discovered by the police officers.
The young woman’s companion ran off, but she was reportedly detained by the police officers and she alleges that they raped her and warned her not to say anything if she did not want to be reported to her coach.
However, the police officers say that what happened was entirely consensual, and reject that there was any coercion.
But the fact that the girl is only 17 years old and that the men are police officers has caused a huge online storm, especially after the video, that appears to have been taken by one of the officers, shows them confronting her with her boyfriend.
Outraged by the alleged behaviour of the police officers, the row even reached the office of Russian President Vladimir Putin where his spokesman Dmitry Peskov has rejected the suggestion that it was a stain on the police.
He said: “You don’t need to associate this with the police. If crimes are committed, guilt or innocence is determined by the court.”
He added: “And these actions of citizens against other citizens, of course, are outrageous, unacceptable. In cases like this the punishment must be placed against the one who committed this misconduct.”
The girl said that she had gone to a bar with friends and and then gone onto the beach with her partner when they were found by the police officers. She claims they then forced her to have sex.
Police meanwhile have confirmed a criminal case has been opened out against two of the three police officers under article 133 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. They have been named as Rustam Naniz, 26, and Leonid Palanchuk, 28.
After their names were published, pictures of them and their families were then posted online including one in which one of the officers is seen feeding a baby porridge.
The accounts meanwhile are still online. The two officers are currently in custody facing charges of forcing a minor to have sex.
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Story By: Amelia Guran, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
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