|
|
| By: Associated Press |
| Published: March 27, 2006 |
| |
The Moscow City Court on Monday sentenced a man who attacked worshippers in a synagogue with a hunting knife to 13 years in prison and mandatory psychiatric treatment.
The court found Alexander Koptsev guilty of attempted murder on racist grounds for stabbing and wounding nine men in January at the Moscow synagogue.
It dropped a charge of provoking interethnic hatred, and prosecution lawyers said they would appeal that, the Interfax news agency reported.
"By deciding to drop (the article), the court made a political decision in order to reassure the public that such things don't exist," prosecution lawyer Vadim Klyuvgant said.
A million Jews live in Russia, according to the Federation of Jewish Communities, and the Jewish community is currently experiencing a revival after a wave of emigration to Israel and other countries.
Rising xenophobia in recent years has seen hundreds of racially motivated attacks on targets including dark-skinned immigrants from former Soviet Central Asia and the Caucasus Mountains region. Rights activists say hate groups are emboldened by authorities' mild approach to prosecuting hate crimes, and complain that literature from neo-Nazis and other extremists is sold freely. |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
