RUSSIA: Russian student arrested for posting video of racist killings on Internet

Record ID: 1519612

  • Title: RUSSIA: Russian student arrested for posting video of racist killings on Internet
  • Date: 16th August 2007
  • Summary: PEOPLE WALKING ON STREET PEOPLE WALKING, KREMLIN IN BACK
  • Embargoed: 1st September 2007 03:58
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVAA6ETZHV2AL9M53FHN0XQ9F7WD
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Russian prosecutors charge a university student with inciting racial hatred by circulating an Internet video which appeared to show neo-Nazis beheading one non-Slav migrant and shooting another in the head.
    Russian prosecutors on Wednesday (August 15) charged a university student with inciting racial hatred by circulating an Internet video which appeared to show neo-Nazis beheading one non-Slav migrant and shooting another in the head.
    Police have not said if the video is authentic, but it has highlighted racist violence in Russia, which is usually directed against dark-skinned migrants from the country's south or former Soviet republics.
    The video showed two men with their mouths gagged and hands tied behind their backs, kneeling in front of a swastika flag in a forest. A caption said one was from Russia's mainly Muslim Dagestan region and the second from ex-Soviet Tajikistan.
    To a heavy metal backing track, the video -- which has been seen by Reuters -- appeared to show a masked man hacking off the head of one captive with what looked like a hunting knife.
    In another section, a man could be heard shouting "Glory to Russia", then firing a hand gun at the head of the second captive, who was kneeling next to a shallow grave.
    A caption on the video said it was the work of the Rus National-Socialist Party, a previously unheard of group. "Rus" is an historical name for Russia and is used by nationalists.
    Human Rights campaigner Svetlana Gannushkina, who hears about racial abuses on a daily basis, said she had seen the video and believed it showed genuine executions. She said the clip was a reality.
    "It is horrible. And this is not just virtual reality, we should have a clear understanding that this is not just an event of the internet, but it is an event of our real life. Because whatever is shown there, unfortunately happens here and it happens quite often. We have had many murders here, including of human activists who were protecting the interests of non-Russian residents in Russia, and the murder of these non-Russians themselves," Gannushkina said.
    Gannushkina works at the human rights group Memorial and also heads the organisation Civic Assistance. Every day non-Slavic residents come to her small office in the centre of Moscow to ask for civil and judicial assistance for racial related problems.
    She said the worsening problem of racism and xenophobia in Russia was a result of Russian authorities refusing to fight it, and calling racially-motivated attacks acts of hooliganism instead.
    "I think these sort of things are the result of the lack of attention from our law enforcement bodies. They are looking for extremists in the wrong places," Gannushkina said.
    Since the break up of Soviet rule, millions of migrants -- many but not all of them Muslims -- have travelled to Russia to find work. This has caused tension with ethnic Slavs that frequently spills over into violence.
    Many of those convicted of attacking migrants have been young skinheads linked to groups promoting racial purity.
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