Racism and xenophobia in Russia. Results of May 2012

In May 2012, at least 12 people suffered from racist and neo-Nazi motivated attacks, one of them died (a Meskhetian Turk in Rostov-on-Don). Incidents were recorded in Moscow (1 injured), St. Petersburg (7 injured), Novosibirsk (1 injured), Rostov (1 dead, 1 injured) and Samara regions (1 injured). The victims of the attack in May were natives of Central Asia (5 victims), the Caucasus (1 dead, 2 injured), members of informal and leftist youth groups (2 injured), LGBT activists (1 injured), Russians (1 injured).

In total, in the first five months of 2012 in 14 regions of Russia, 5 people were killed and at least 70 people were injured, 1 received a serious death threat.

Noteworthy is the attack on journalist Sergei Aslanyan on the night of May 29, 2012 in Moscow. The investigation is considering several versions, including the possibility of an attack due to a journalist’s statement about the Prophet Muhammad on the air of the Mayak radio station.

In May 2012, the social activity of right-wing radicals was still high. Russian nationalists traditionally took part in marches and rallies on May 1 in Moscow and in no less than 17 other cities. In Moscow, the “Civil March” near the Oktyabrskoye Pole metro station gathered about 500 people, which is slightly less than a year earlier. On May 6, in the opposition march “March of Millions” and on May 9, in the march and rally of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, nationalists participated in very small numbers. But they tried to play an active role in the “occupation” protest camps in Moscow on Chistye Prudy and especially on Vosstaniya Square.

Violent nationalist actions continued in May 2012. On May 17, 2012, in St. Petersburg, nationalists attacked participants in the LGBT “rainbow flash mob” action, and then buses with guest workers. On May 1, 2012, LGBT activists and participants in the May Day “Monstration” were also injured in Novosibirsk.

In May, videos continued to spread on the Russian Internet in which representatives of the Kyrgyz gang “Patriot” mocked their compatriots for dating young people from Tajikistan. One of the injured girls was found in Kyrgyzstan and persuaded to write a statement to law enforcement agencies. As a result, a criminal case was opened , which is planned to be transferred to the place where the crime was committed - to Moscow.

In May, we recorded at least 6 acts of vandalism that could be regarded as motivated by hatred or neo-Nazi ideological attitudes. Ideological (4 cases) and Orthodox objects (2 cases) were damaged.

Since the beginning of the year, there have been at least 23 such acts of vandals in 13 regions of the country.

The SOVA Center is not aware of any verdicts handed down in May 2012 in cases of racist violence in which the motive of hatred was taken into account. In total, since the beginning of the year, at least 6 such sentences have been passed against 19 people in 5 regions of the country: 12 people were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, 4 were given suspended sentences, 1 was sentenced to life imprisonment, 1 was released from punishment due to the reconciliation of the parties , 1 is acquitted.

Noteworthy is the first verdict in the case of the Yekaterinburg cell of the "People's Militia named after Minin and Pozharsky" (NOMP), the Sverdlovsk Regional Court sentenced former criminal investigation officer Vladislav Ladeishchikov (Termite) under Part 1 of Art. 30 and art. 279 (preparation of an armed rebellion) and Article 205-1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (involving people in terrorist activities) to 6 years of suspended imprisonment. Such a lenient punishment is explained by the fact that the defendant made a deal with the investigation and fully admitted his guilt.

At least 4 sentences were passed for xenophobic propaganda in May 2012 - in the Stavropol Territory, Kurgan, Murmansk Regions, and the Republic of Udmurtia. Five people were convicted: three were sentenced to a fine, one to correctional labor, and one to mandatory labor.

In total, since the beginning of 2012, 31 verdicts have been issued in cases of xenophobic propaganda in 27 regions of the country, in which 40 people were convicted.

In May, the Federal List of Extremist Materials was replenished 7 times (May 2, 16, 23, 25, 28 and 30) - items were added to it. 1158-1198. The list has been supplemented by: a long-standing message from BORN with threats and a photograph of the severed head of a guest worker, an article by the editor of the Radical Politics newsletter Boris Stomakhin, anti-Semitic xenophobic books, leaflets, videos, articles, including from various Internet sites and from the social network “VKontakte” , one issue of Rabochaya Gazeta, several texts by Ron Hubbard.

In May, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized the international neo-Nazi association “Blood & Honor” as extremist and banned its activities in Russia. The court decision has not yet entered into force and the organization has not yet been included in the “Federal List of Extremist Organizations”. In total, the list published on the official website of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation currently includes 28 organizations (organizations recognized as terrorist are not included in it).