Medvedev fires top police officials

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday sacked several top police officials and ordered the Interior Ministry to present him with a plan to overhaul law enforcement, dpa reported.

Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev must provide a plan to address corruption and crime in the ranks within a month, Medvedev said in Moscow.

He fired, effective immediately, two of Nurgaliyev's deputies and 16 other high ranking officials, the Kremlin said. The president also requested that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin quickly develop a bill to deal with police corruption.

Civil liberties advocates called the steps insufficient. "Society expects more," said human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov.

Eduard Limonov of the banned opposition National Bolshevik Party said he believed there would not be any true change.

Medvedev has called for radical reforms to modernize the Interior Ministry, including cutting half of its 20,000 employees. He points to figures that show only every second crime reported to authorities is solved.