MOSCOW, April 26 - RAPSI. A number of governors have been dismissed on suspicion of corruption. Criminal cases have been opened against several of them, but the investigation has ceased in some cases due to a lack of evidence, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday in an interview with TV stations.

"I was forced to dismiss 50 percent of the governors. Most resigned because, let's say, there was not sufficient evidence of a crime being committed. No one canceled the presumption of innocence. It remains valid. But the Investigative Committee reported to me that there were materials. I had to make decisions, call colleagues and ask them to resign themselves," he said while answering a question about combating corruption.

He added that criminal cases have also been initiated against numerous former governors.