Prosecutors in St. Petersburg, Russia have reclassified a
"hooliganism" investigation to a hate crimes case, according to a June
17, 2009 report by the local news web site fontanka.ru. Three
suspects face the reclassified charges of "actions aimed at inciting
ethnic hatred" and "attempted murder" in relation to two February 2007
assaults. The victims include a woman from Moldova and a man from
Cameroon. Police detained the suspects the same day as the crime, but
initially ignored an eye witness who called the Russian equivalent of
911 with information that the assailants looked like neo-Nazis.
