KONDOPOGA FOR MOSCOW
Viktor Tkachev; Maksim Rudometkin
RusData Dialine – Russian Press Digest
Noviye Izvestia, No 108, p.1
June 25, 2007 Monday
Nationalists clashed with people from the Caucasus in downtown Moscow
Dozens of ultranationalists armed with metal poles and broken bottles
attacked people from the Caucasus and Central Asia at two squares near
the Kremlin and a third location Friday night, raising fears of an
escalation in ethnic violence. One ethnic Armenian was hospitalized
with stab wounds and 42 people were detained in the clashes, city
police said.
The attackers consisted of about 50 members of ultranationalist groups,
including the Movement Against Illegal Immigration, which sought to
carry out a "provocation against the population of Moscow," police
said in a statement. Alexander Belov, the movement’s leader, called the
accusation "some kind of stupidity" Sunday and said he had given police
his own version of events when summoned to a police station Saturday.
Arrests were made on Manezh Square and Slavyanskaya Ploshchad,
both near the Kremlin, and outside the Fili metro station in western
Moscow. Police arrested a Russian citizen identified as I. Sergeyev,
born in 1988, on suspicion of assaulting a D. Aganesyan, born in
1990. The police statement gave no other names or details about the
detainees. It was unclear Sunday whether they remained in custody
and whether they would face charges.
Police said both ultranationalists and immigrants had broken the law
on Friday night. They also appealed to leaders of political parties
and movements not to "provoke their supporters nor entice youths and
minors into committing illegal acts, particularly for ethnic reasons."
The Movement Against Illegal Immigration posted footage of the clashes
on its web site. Young men carrying broken bottles and metal poles were
seen clashing on what the web site said was Slavyanskaya Ploshchad.
In other footage, people chanted "Russia for Russians!" and
"Kondopoga!" in reference to ethnic violence in the northwestern town
late last summer that followed the killing of two local residents
during a brawl with Chechens in a restaurant. Locals took to the
streets, burning down the restaurant and targeting other establishments
owned by people from the Caucasus.
Kondopoga has become something of a cause celebre both for
ultranationalists, who claim it serves as a warning to those who
tolerate the integration of different ethnicities, and for human rights
groups, which call the incident a prime example of the propagation
of racism.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
