Medvedev vows to punish racist soccer supporters
Source: Agencies |
December 14, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
POLICE will track down and punish the hooligans and racists who rampaged in Moscow over the weekend, President Dmitry Medvedev declared, warning that Russia itself could be torn apart if seething ethnic tensions spin out of control.
About 5,000 people, mainly boys and young men, rallied for hours on a square just outside the Kremlin, chanting "Russia for Russians!" as well as an obscene slur against people from Russia's Caucasus region. They brutally beat some dark-skinned passers-by, and when police moved against the demonstrators, rioting broke out that injured more than 30 people.
In addition, one person from Kyrgyzstan was stabbed to death by unidentified assailants in southern Moscow yesterday, police spokesman Gennady Bogachev said.
Resentment is rising among Slavic Russians over the growing presence in Moscow and elsewhere of people from the Caucasus, the home of numerous ethnic groups, most of them Muslim. People from other parts of the former Soviet Union, including Central Asia and Azerbaijan, also face strong ethnic discrimination in Russia.
The weekend rally began as a protest against the killing of a fan of the Spartak soccer team, who was shot dead in a fight last week. Those suspected of killing him are from Russia's Caucasus region.
The rioters called for the abolishment of a law that makes it a crime to incite ethnic hatred, Moscow's police chief said.
Hate attacks in Russia peaked in 2008, when 115 people were killed and nearly 500 were injured.
About 5,000 people, mainly boys and young men, rallied for hours on a square just outside the Kremlin, chanting "Russia for Russians!" as well as an obscene slur against people from Russia's Caucasus region. They brutally beat some dark-skinned passers-by, and when police moved against the demonstrators, rioting broke out that injured more than 30 people.
In addition, one person from Kyrgyzstan was stabbed to death by unidentified assailants in southern Moscow yesterday, police spokesman Gennady Bogachev said.
Resentment is rising among Slavic Russians over the growing presence in Moscow and elsewhere of people from the Caucasus, the home of numerous ethnic groups, most of them Muslim. People from other parts of the former Soviet Union, including Central Asia and Azerbaijan, also face strong ethnic discrimination in Russia.
The weekend rally began as a protest against the killing of a fan of the Spartak soccer team, who was shot dead in a fight last week. Those suspected of killing him are from Russia's Caucasus region.
The rioters called for the abolishment of a law that makes it a crime to incite ethnic hatred, Moscow's police chief said.
Hate attacks in Russia peaked in 2008, when 115 people were killed and nearly 500 were injured.
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