Stavropol law enforcers refuse to accept a symbolic golden toilet bowl

After an arrest of the chief for the GIBDD (Road Police) Department for the Stavropol Territory, artist Alexander Chaplygin offered the police department an installation with a golden toilet bowl as a reminder of the punishment for bribery. Alexander Chaplygin was detained and complained that law enforcers threatened to institute against him a case for insulting a public officer.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on July 20, Alexei Safonov, for the GIBDD Department for the Stavropol Territory, was detained after searches. He and a number of other GIBDD officers are suspected of receiving bribes from drivers. According to the investigators’ version, the total amount of bribes exceeded 19 million roubles.

Sculptor Alexander Chaplygin created the installation “Bribe-Prison” and tried to hand it over to the GIBDD Department for the Stavropol Territory as a cautionary advice. The video, posted by Alexander Chaplygin, depicts a gilded toilet bowl standing in front of the GIBDD Department building with a bunch of gold coins, seemingly falling out of the bowl on the ground.

In the video, policemen approach Alexander Chaplygin and dismantle the installation. Then they detained the artist. In the accompanying text to the video, Alexander Chaplygin noted that the policemen perceived his gift as an insult and detained him in order to institute a criminal case against him.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 5, 2021 at 03:48 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.