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A neo-Nazi suspected of committing murder in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia reportedly confessed to the crime, according to a March 1, 2010 report by the Regnum news
agency. The suspect, a neo-Nazi, has a criminal record of robbery,
calls for extremist activity, and incitement of ethnic hatred.
According to police, he regularly took part in neo-Nazi attacks on
ethnic minorities. The murder in question took place on February 28.
The victim was not identified in the Regnum report, so it isn't clear
if the killing was a hate crime.  Police reportedly detained the
suspect near the scene of the crime in possession of a knife.

For Immediate Release
March 6, 2010
Contact: Leonid Stonov (847) 579-3070

UCSJ CONDEMNS BEATING OF HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST, ANTI-RACISM CAMPAIGNER
Suspicious Incident Reminiscent of KGB Thuggery in "The Bad Old Days"

UCSJ: Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union today condemned
the beating over the weekend of Vadim Karastelyov, a human rights
activist and anti-racism campaigner in Novorossiysk, Russia (Krasnodar
region). Mr. Karastelyov "was kicked and beaten up with sticks,"
according to Lev Ponomaryov, another human rights advocate, and his
skull was fractured in the attack.

Prosecutors in Birobizhan, Russia have issued an official warning based on
anti-extremism laws against a local Jehovah's Witnesses congregation,
according to a February 27, 2010 report by the Sova
Information-Analytical Center. Based on a court ruling last year in
Taganrog, Russia that declared Jehovah's Witnesses as extremist
organization, Birobizhan is the latest jurisdiction where
anti-extremism laws are being abused to persecute a minority faith.
Based on this warning, prosecutors may take the Jehovah's Witnesses
congregation to a court which could order it disbanded.

A
jury in St. Petersburg, Russia found five neo-Nazis guilty of a hate
crime, according to a February 26, 2010 report by the Regnum news
agency. The jury found all five defendants guilty of hooliganism
motivated by ethnic hatred, and one of the defendants guilty of
attempted murder. According to the verdict, in November 2007, the
defendants beat up on the street a young woman of mixed African and
Russian heritage. One of them, identified only his surname of
Maslenikov, then stabbed the young woman six times. Luckily, the
victim's cries for help attracted enough attention that the neo-Nazis
were frightened off by a gathering crowd of witnesses. The victim was
taken to the hospital with wounds to her kidney, but fortunately
survived.

Volume 10, Number 9
March 5, 2010

BIGOTRY MONITOR

A Weekly Human Rights Newsletter on Antisemitism, Xenophobia, and Religious Persecution in the Former Communist World and Western Europe

EDITOR: CHARLES FENYVESI
(News and Editorial Policy within the sole discretion of the editor)

Published by UCSJ: Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union
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Russia’s police got into a new scandal over a provincial whistleblower’s arrest, followed by the arrest of the whistleblower’s public defender. Then a day after the defender’s release from police custody, he was severely beaten. A new investigation of the whistleblower’s charges is now ordered by Moscow while his defender, a well-known human rights activist, is undergoing surgery.

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A district court in Kemerovo, Russia handed down a two year suspended
sentence to a 25 year old man who was found guilty of creating an
extremist group, according to a February 25, 2010 report by the Sova
Information-Analytical Center. In 2007, Aleksandr Agafonov led a group
of neo-Nazis who placed leaflets calling for the violent overthrow of
the government around the city right before the anniversary of the Nazi
invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.

An expert analysis of the leaflets found that their author intended to "inspire readers to take up arms against the government" and create "illegal armed
formations" who would undertake "terrorist acts" and commit hate
crimes. It is not clear why, given the severity of the accusations, the
defendants was tried in a civil, rather than a criminal court, nor why
he only received a suspended sentence.

Two more attacks
on ethnic minorities have been reported in Barnaul, Russia (Republic of
Altay), a city that made international headlines earlier this month
after a South Korean exchange student was killed in a racist attack.
According to a February 24, 2010 report by the Sova
Information-Analytical Center, three of the suspects in the killing of
the Korean student are now suspected of attacking a citizen of China
and an ethnic Tuvan at the beginning of February. There were no details
in the report about the extent of the victims' injuries.

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Background Information.