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Antisemitic Demonstrators Threaten Terrorism and Murder in Moscow,Police Do Nothing


(April 23, 2008)

At a rally of around 400 far-right nationalists, speakers called for the murder of various government officials, praised terrorist methods, and demonized Jews, all while police looked passively on, according to an April 21, 2008 article in the national daily Kommersant. At a time when peaceful political opposition demonstrations are routinely suppressed in Moscow through police violence and intimidation, the freedom that extremists routinely enjoy to rally in Moscow calls into question the sincerity of those city and national leaders who have publicly called for inter-ethnic tolerance.

The rally took place on Saturday on Triumph Square. Around 400 members of the National Great Power Party of Russia, the Union of Orthodox Standard Bearers, and the neo-Nazi Slavic Union ("SS" in its Russian abbreviation) held signs condemning "Jewish fascism" and the "Jewish mafia" and calling on Slavic women to "guard the purity of your race." Speakers called for the release of Vladimir Kvachkov, who was sentenced to prison for his roll in an assassination plot against a Jewish government official--the far-right nationalist and his co-conspirators strafed Anatoly Chubais' motorcade and set off an explosion nearby, luckily causing no fatalities.

Olga Kasyanenko of the Movement Against Illegal Immigration called for Russians to "Arm yourself! Defend your families!" and concluded with the neo-Nazi slogan "Russia for the Russians!" Another speaker called for nationalists to prepare for war. Leonid Simonovich, head of the Union of Orthodox Standard Bearers, read a poem envisioning the murder of several government officials through a terrorist bombing campaign. Nikolai Kuryanovich, a former State Duma deputy, also addressed the rally, which blatantly violated Russia's laws against extremist activity, calls to overthrow the constitutional structure of the state, and inciting ethnic hatred. Nevertheless, police reportedly did nothing in response.


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