Afghan Beaten In St. Petersburg

Protestors at an antiracism rally on April 11 hold portraits of victims of racially motivated attacks in St. Petersburg (file photo) (RFE/RL) April 15, 2006 -- An Afghan national has been hospitalized after being beaten in the Russian city of St. Petersburg.

The 31-year-old man suffered broken bones and bruises after struggling with unidentified assailants in a shopping area late on April 14.


The Interfax news agency reported that witnesses alleged the attackers may have been drunken police officers.


No confirmation was available.


It was not immediately clear if the incident was racially motiviated.


According to the nongovernmental organization Sova, two people have been killed and 14 injured in racially motivated attacks in St Petersburg this year.


(Interfax, AFP)

Epidemic Of Hate

Epidemic Of Hate

Yusuf Sultonov, whose 9-year-old daughter was beaten and stabbed to death in St. Petersburg on February 9, 2004 (TASS)

EXTREMISM ASCENDANT: More than half of Russians have xenophobic views, according to a report published in August 2005. In the report, rights groups say that -- despite progress in some areas -- racism, xenophobia, and anti-Semitism remain rife in Russia. But what worries watchdogs most are recent moves by nationalist-patriotic movements to form paramilitary groups....(more)


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