Statistics of Racist and Neo-Nazi Crimes in Russia. January - November 2007
In the period of January 1 to November 30, 2007, in Russia, there were no less than 546 people attacked, including 57 fatalities. These figures do not include underreported attacks on homeless people (in 2007, there have been 4 murders of the homeless people which the police considers or suspects to be perpetrated be the neo-nazis) and on LGBT people (only in May, on the day when the gay pride event was to take place, no less than 10 people were beaten by the neo-nazis).
A Series of Neo-nazi Attacks in Moscow
On October 20, 2007, in Moscow, a group of up to 30 teenagers, presumably football fans, attacked several people, and as a result one of the victims died. All of the assaulted people were of "non-Slavic" appearance. The incidents took place after a football match between the "Spartak" and "Moskva" clubs.
A High Profile Neo-nazi Leader Currently Under Investigation
On September 27, 2007, in Voronezh, a criminal case was filed against Dmitry Rumyantsev for the dissemination of hate propaganda covered under article 282, part 1 (incitement of hatred on the basis of race and ethnicity). Rumyantsev is one of the leaders of the National-Socialist Society (NSO), a relatively small, but well-promoted neo-nazi network. The charges have been brought in connection with his speech at a demonstration in Voronezh on July 21, 2007.
Intervention at the 2007 OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting by the SOVA Center
September 24-25, 2007 the SOVA Center participated in OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw. On September 25, Alexander Verkhovsky made an intervention at the working session "Combating intolerance and discrimination and promoting mutual respect and understanding - implementation of commitments;. Verkhovsky pointed out that governments are responsible for the tacit permission of racism and discrimination.
