Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Lawyer Ruslan Lazuta had had enough of being stopped on the road by police alleging that he violated traffic laws when he knew he had not. The officers didn’t want to write him a ticket – they counted on drivers, unsure of their rights and eager to be on their way, who would be willing to pay a small “fee” directly to the officer in order to settle the matter on the spot.
Nearly two years ago, Lazuta mounted a video camera in his car and began recording his interactions with police officers on the roads, then uploading them onto YouTube. He has documented stops for a number of offenses that the video footage clearly shows he did not commit, from speeding to entering a crosswalk on a yellow light.
He studied traffic regulations until he knew them well, often better than the police officers themselves, giving him the confidence to stand up for his rights when they requested documents he knew they had no legal basis to see, or were not able to provide proof that a violation had occurred. When inspectors who stopped him on the road without cause saw that he was prepared to defend himself, they backed down.
Lazuta’s videos acquired a following on YouTube, and soon people were contacting him to get his advice on how to deal with police who try to extract bribes from drivers. That’s when he decided to form the Drivers’ Assistance Union, which will provide consultations to drivers on how to defend their rights and provide legal assistance to people who have been wrongly accused of traffic violations. “Drivers must first observe all written traffic laws. Only then will they have the moral right to accuse inspectors of misconduct,” Lazuta told Karaganda newspaper Noviy Vestnik.
Similar organizations exist in several cities in Russia, but Lazuta’s is the first in Kazakhstan. A branch of Lazuta’s Driver’s Assistance Union is also starting to operate in Shimkent, in southern Kazakhstan, and Lazuta is now working with Internews’ online news media partner in that city, Otyrar-TV.kz, to produce an online TV show about drivers’ rights and responsibilities.
Lazuta’s video was one of four winners of NewReporter.org’s inaugural “Like of the Year” award, which recognizes outstanding pieces of online journalism that have changed people’s lives. NewReporter.org is the most popular online resource connecting journalists across Central Asia. Both NewReporter.org and Otyrar-TV.kz were created through an initiative of Internews.