I am against; the man with “ribbons” is also a human -Artikova comments on the filming of traffic police officers

In Uzbekistan, it would be appropriate to prohibit the filming of traffic police officers, regardless of whether they are performing their duties well or poorly. Today, 31 March, at a press conference at the Information and Mass Communications Agency, Deputy Prosecutor General Svetlana Artikova made this comment on her approach to a draft resolution prohibiting Traffic Patrol Service inspectors from being filmed without their permission.

"There is a norm in the constitution. Human dignity is inviolable and protected by the constitution. The TPS officer is also an Uzbek citizen and should be protected by the constitution. This is my personal opinion. This is the law, and an idea. The law makes a unilateral decision. Not bilateral, right? Either allowance or prohibition.

Who can accuse me of injustice? No one. I am a very fair woman. A citizen of the Republic of Uzbekistan is protected by the Constitution. «Whether it is a TPSemployee or a housewife, a journalist, a blogger, if someone «shoots» without your permission, you get so nervous… This is my opinion», – Artikova said.
According to her, the second issue is whether the TPS officers are doing their job well or badly.

«As soon as the state declares its independence, it undertakes to protect the rights of those who are subordinate to it. Uzbekistan is no exception. It is an equal member of the United Nations. An employee of the traffic police performs the duty that was instructed. Whether it is good or bad is the second issue -Svetlana Artikova said.

She also said that it is a disgrace that the roads of Uzbekistan are now called «bloody roads» on social networks.

 “How dangerous is it to walk on the street?! Video cameras work somewhere, but do not work in other places. The State Automobile Inspection officers sometimes work, sometimes not. But we see people driving a car - those who have no legal driving license, who haven’t passed the driving exams, or who took narcotic drugs. Now, Uzbek roads on social networks are even called «bloody roads». Not ashamed? » - Artikova stated.

Further, Deputy Prosecutor General Svetlana Artikova said that she is against the «filming» of an employee of the traffic police who is on duty.

“As a citizen of the Republic of Uzbekistan, lawyer, prosecutor and woman, my personal opinion is that if a traffic police officer goes out on the street, I don't think it's right to take a video and post it on social media if the officer requires that the citizen to comply with the law. The officer is also a citizen of the Republic of Uzbekistan. For example, if you don’t ask me, I won’t let you take a photo. So, first of all, we must protect the citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan,”-

Second, the officer is a civil servant. If the TPS officer does something wrong, you know your rights, you don’t forget your responsibilities. Unfortunately, sometimes people fail to comply with their responsibilities, saying that they have rights. We can observe it. In my opinion, this is not typical for the people of Uzbekistan. So, I stand here both an ordinary citizen and the representative of state officials. «I am against having a traffic police officer «photographed» during his work», –the Deputy Prosecutor said.

It should be noted that Mrs Artikova spoke about the ethics of service of TPS employees, but primarily, the videos of traffic police distributed on social networks show that law enforcement officers have violated the law on ethics. It is also possible to prosecute a citizen caught on camera by TPS officers working within the framework of the law. Because now they have a body cam, and the whole process is being recorded, and the driver can be identified. Current legislation also permits this.

There is another aspect. If the constitution, as Artikova said, protects the citizen, why do we need an additional law? Or does the constitution not work? Aren’t prosecutors equally responsible for their work?

Earlier, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan announced the prohibition of photo and video filming of traffic police officers was under way, and the draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers «On amendments to the Regulation on the procedure of interaction and use of special means» would provide for such an amendment.