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February 5, 1999/19 Shevat 5759, Vol. 51, No. 19
Russian leaders vow prosecutions in wake of neo-Nazi march
LEV KRICHEVSKY
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
MOSCOW - A neo-Nazi march through the streets of Moscow has brought condemnation from several Russian leaders - as well as promises to prosecute the march's organizer.
A presidential commission meeting on Feb. 2 discussed last week's march, during which 200 members of Russia's largest ultranationalist group, Russian National Unity, marched in the capital with their Nazi-style armbands and stiff-armed salutes. The commission should be given a broader mandate to help it curtail the recent rise in political extremism in Russia, said Russian Justice Minister Pavel Krasheninnikov, who condemned the march earlier this week.
Moscow city prosecutors said they would press criminal charges against the leader of the group, Alexander Barkashov. The comments followed Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov's promise to crack down on political extremism.
In the wake of the march, Russia's prosecutor general resigned. It is unclear what prompted Yuri Skuratov's move, which still has to be approved by the upper house of Russia's Parliament, but he has come under growing criticism for his inability to prosecute extremists.
The march also increased calls for legislation to be drafted that would combat extremism. But most observers agree that such legislation would not pass the Communist-dominated Duma, Russia's lower house of Parliament.
The demonstration came after a series of confrontations between Luzhkov and Barkashov, which began in December after Luzhkov banned a planned meeting of the group. City prosecutors recently turned down Luzhkov's lawsuit against Barkashov, whom the mayor claimed threatened him with violence during their verbal sparring.
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