Soviets Punish 200,000 Corrupt, Negligent Officials

MOSCOW —  The Soviet Union’s top law enforcement official said Wednesday that 200,000 government and Communist Party officials were punished for corruption and negligence during the last year and warned that resistance from within the Soviet bureaucracy could scuttle attempts at reform.

General Prosecutor Alexander M. Rekunkov also said the rights of Soviet citizens are being violated on a regular basis by uncaring and irresponsible officials.

His remarks were one of the most sweeping indictments of the Soviet bureaucracy since Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev came to power two years ago and launched his policy of glasnost, or openness.

In an interview with the party newspaper Pravda, Rekunkov said that in many cases, Communist Party officials have hampered investigations into corruption and mismanagement to try to protect their own jobs and privileges and that of their friends.

“Last year, about 200,000 officials were brought to disciplinary responsibility for violations of state discipline,” Rekunkov said. He said this figure was higher than those of previous years.

A total of 50,000 of those officials were fired, fined, jailed or reprimanded for producing poor quality goods or failing to meet contract obligations, he said.

Rekunkov said that party officials reprimanded for not doing their job properly often laugh off administrative punishment and use it to avoid criminal prosecution in the courts.

He demanded more severe punishment for officials guilty of mismanagement or of failing to fulfill contracts.

“The study made in this field indicates that 75% of reprimands are considered by the officials themselves as a measure to avoid a more serious punishment,” Rekunkov said. “It is enough to mention that such officials continue to get bonuses.

“A strict punishment should be envisaged for those officials who disrupt contract deliveries, produce defective goods or ruin monuments of the past.”

Rekunkov said his department handled more than 90,000 complaints in 1986 lodged by citizens against government officials.

“In the field of violation of citizens’ rights, much has been done, but still that is not enough,” he said.

About 140 people wrongly jailed last year have been released after investigations by his department, Rekunkov said.

His office appealed 60,000 “unlawful” administrative acts committed by government officials in 1986, winning the reinstatement of 11,000 people who had been wrongfully dismissed from their jobs.