Russian neo-Nazi gang convicted of 27 murders

Russia: Four Russian neo-Nazis were handed life sentences on Monday for the murder of 27 youths in a 2007-2008, spree that shocked Moscow and led to tougher hate crime laws.

The court also convicted several of the 13 gang members of terrorism for plotting a suburban Moscow train station bombing that was uncovered in time by the police.

The court handed 10- to 23-year prison terms to eight members of the group while one person received a suspended sentence for cooperating with the investigation.

The Nationalist-Socialist Society was a legally registered organisation when it began its hunt on young ethnic minorities who arrived in the Russian capital from southern Muslim republics and the Central Asian states.

Russian media reports said at least one of the attacks was videotaped then distributed on Russian nationalist websites.

An outcry from human rights groups over these and similar attacks prompted the Kremlin to call for a review of Russian nationalist groups’ links to hate crime.

The Kremlin had initially provided informal backing to some of these organisations as part of its drive to improve young people’s interest in politics.

The Nationalist-Socialist Society was formally banned in February 2010 and several similar groups have since been forced to disband.

But they maintain a strong presence on Russian social media networks and often manage to bring out large numbers of supporters for protests outside foreign embassy in times of diplomatic tensions with the West.

Moscow, Tuesday, AFP