Anti-Caucasian rally in Stavropol

On the evening of June 5 at about 7 p.m. in the center of Stavropol - on Lenin Square, opposite the building of the regional government - an anti-Caucasian rally and procession took place. According to media reports, between 700 and 1,000 people took part in the procession. The Central Internal Affairs Directorate of the Stavropol Territory reports a different figure - 200-300 people. Among the rally participants - mostly teenagers and young people - were members of the Movement Against Illegal Immigration (DPNI), the Russian National Union (RONS), the Union of Slavic Communities of the region.

The protesters demanded the resignation of the government of the region, the deportation of Chechens and an open investigation into the murder of students, whose murder was the reason for the "gathering". who was killed during a mass brawl According to one version, actively spread by nationalists, the murder of students was revenge for Gilani Ataev, a native of Chechnya, on May 24. Although, according to law enforcement agencies, young people became victims of a robbery. (As Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said, “we do not predict any issues related to the national motive for this crime. At least today we have information that this crime does not stand out from the others.” )

At the beginning of the rally, the mayor of the city Dmitry Kuzmin came out to the protesters, who called on the crowd to go home and promised to inform the population about the progress of the investigation into the murder of students. Without waiting for the appearance of Governor Alexander Chernogorov, the protesters marched through the city center and tried to organize riots: young people with red masks on their faces, shouting the slogans "Glory to Russia!" and "Suitcase, station, Chechnya!" blocked traffic on Lenin Square. Some teenagers threw up their hands in a fascist salute. In the area of ​​the hotel "Tourist", where immigrants from Ingushetia and Chechnya live, the participants of the action were stopped by riot police.

After minor clashes, 51 people were detained, one of them, the leader of the local branch of the RONS, Alexander Chernovolov, was charged under Art. 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (incitement of national hatred). According to the Leninsky District Department of Internal Affairs of the city, he "shouted nationalist slogans most violently, called for the eviction of people of other nationalities from Stavropol, and insulted them" .

On June 6, Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said that a total of 9 criminal cases had been opened as a result of the rally.

The media report about the destruction of one of the cafes belonging to immigrants from Chechnya was not confirmed by the city police department. According to the police, during the procession in the city "several glasses were broken, nothing more . "

Recall that during the two days preceding the rally, the local branch of the DPNI (Movement Against Illegal Immigration) actively agitated everyone to take part in it with the help of leaflets and messages on the Internet.

The leader of the DPNI Alexander Belov (Potkin), who actively agitated the population to take part in the rally, was unable to do so himself. Together with cameraman Boris Smirnov, he was detained by the police and spent the night in the Nevinnomyssk police station.

Comment: It should be noted that the information about the burned cafe in Stavropol, owned by immigrants from the Caucasus, is refuted by the right-wing radicals themselves, who stated that information about the beating of 5 "Caucasians" was transformed into this news (according to the information of the ultra-right, the beating happened in one from a cafe in the city), which, apparently, took place on June 3 or 4. Recall that information about the cafe appeared on the right-wing radical Stavropol forums even before the rally. In addition, it is possible that the armed attack on the cafe in Essentuki on June 5, in the interpretation of "word of mouth" could also turn into a "crush of a cafe" in Stavropol).

Larintseva A., Allenova O. Stavropol was heard in the capital // Kommersant. 2007. June 7th.

Sources

• Petrakova I. Funeral march of nationalists // Strana.ru. 2007. June 6.
• Stavropolskaya A. We need the truth //Expert Online. 2007. June 6.
• Anti-Caucasian pogroms and clashes with police took place in Stavropol // Fontanka.ru. 2007. June 6.