A military judge in southern Russia has resigned a month after reportedly attempting to pay off the victim of a drunk-driving incident.
Arsen Krikorov was filmed trying to bribe the mother of an 18-year-old student whom he allegedly ran over while intoxicated at a crosswalk in Krasnodar on Dec. 21. He is heard slurring his words in the video carried by the Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid and asking for forgiveness, while the victim's mother expresses dismay over his assumption that he could buy his innocence. This week, the city’s traffic police were accused of failing to report the high-profile incident that Russian observers highlighted as an example of impunity.
“Krikorov has submitted an application of resignation to the Russian judicial qualification board on Jan. 16,” the Krasnodar garrison military court said in a statement on its website Thursday, without specifying reasons for the decision.
An unnamed court official told Interfax that an investigation was underway and the victim “was compensated, as far as I know.”
Krikorov will receive a monthly pension of approximately 80,000 rubles ($1,800) after his resignation following an 18-year career, Pavel Chikov, the head of the Agora human rights group, wrote on Twitter.
