Russia jails former graft cop

MOSCOW: A Russian court has jailed a former police anti-corruption boss for 22 years in a murky case his lawyer alleged Friday was aimed at stopping his clampdown on high-level graft.

Moscow city court on Thursday handed down the harsh punishment to Denis Sugrobov after he was detained in 2014 for allegedly attempting to frame suspects in a bid to further his career and receive bonuses.

But Sugrobov’s backers said the case -- which saw seven other ex-interior ministry officials jailed along with him -- was cooked up in revenge for a raft of high-level probes he conducted.

"These people were working honestly to defend the interests of the state and society and this is what they got," lawyer Eduard Isetsky told AFP. "This has no relation to justice. It is the mirror image and everything has been turned on its head."

High-level corruption is rampant in Russia under President Vladimir Putin with the country’s different security agencies often competing against each other for illicit gains.

Russian media reported that Sugrobov and his subordinates were detained by agents from the powerful FSB security agency after they tried to target one of its senior bosses.

In a grisly twist one of Sugrobov’s deputies Boris Kolesnikov allegedly killed himself during questioning by jumping out of a window, but his family insists he was thrown to his death by investigators.