Moscow Court Convicts neo-Nazi "Fly"

On September 30, the Savyolovsky District Court in Moscow ruled in its case against neo-Nazi Anton Mukhachev, who is known by the nom de guerre "Fly." He stood accused of the formation of an extremist society (Part 1 of Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code) and fraud (Parts 3 and 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code). The trial was held in a closed session, an increasingly common occurrence in higher-profile trials of neo-Nazis in Russia.

According to investigators, Mukhachev and three known accomplices - as well as "other unknown persons" - formed the ultra-right Northern Brotherhood, an organization whose website was deemed extremist in March 2008.

Earlier, in October 2007, the group created an Internet project entitled "The Big Game: Smash the System," which was deemed extremist in January 2010.

The "Big Game" was arranged similarly to other computer games. The action became more complicated from level to level, with activities ranging from drawing neo-Nazi graffiti to threatening law enforcement officers, judges, bureaucrats, etc. with physical harm. As the player passed through subsequent levels, he would be able to publish recipes for explosives and disseminate videos simulating the murders of people of non-Slavic appearance. Several participants in the game were convicted in the ruling.

In addition to his ultranationalist activities, Mukhachev was convicted of four counts of fraud committed in relation to his duties as general director of the Kudinovo Trade House, LLC.

He will serve nine years in a penal colony.

Earlier, criminal proceedings were brought against one of Mukhachev's named accomplices, Oleg Troshkin. Two other accomplices are on the run, while a fourth sought political asylum in Ukraine in 2009.

Mukhachev's wife Olga Kasyanenko - a leader of the neo-Nazi Red Blitzkreig group who is known as "Matilda Don" in ultranationalist circles - is accused of public appeals for extremist activity (Part 1 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code) and the public justification of terrorism (Article 205-2 of the Criminal Code) in a case filed in May of this year.