20.05.2005 "Skinheads” shoot

The wave of neo-Nazi massacres,that increases across all Russia recently, seems to have come to silent Petrozavodsk where “skinheads” are known only by hearsay. Hearings about mass slaughters ,that some short-haired young people in sports suits with stripes of the neo-Nazi contents arrange in night streets, have spread throughout city.

Among the first victims there were local "informals", basically, students,who are representatives of the musical bohemias,who gather at the Petrozavodsk state university. As they said, "bonheads" attack them – so, this way the international experts on neo-nazism call skinheads-nazis, separating them from "simple" skinheads who are not nazists. The groups in quantity up to 30 person attack, they beat everyone who comes across on a way, and then immediatelly disappear in court yard of nearby houses. "Informals" try to reciprocate the same way. As a result, there are the broken noses, the broken heads and bruises from both parties.
- They name themselves "patriots", - one of participants of these fights speaks. – They run, bump off anybody, shout: « White power » (« White force » - a comment of editor.), « Glory of Russia », « You dishonour Russia » and something else in the same way. These are some people,who study at specialized schools, colleges ,any juvenile pups, representatives of dull-witted youth. Our persons have caught a pair of them , I ask them, what were the motives of their actions , and they speak, they were simply drunking , they were called...
- It’s not clear who has called, - one more eyewitness is connecting to conversation, - but they have there pair of the persons who are the leaders, who instigate everyone to it. And they are just not teenagers, but quite adult men. I think, someone stands up for them .The next day after the last incident some persons came to us and have suggested meeting face to face on Zareka.Noone has gone.However there are some people from our party who were very seriously got worked up and all this can be ended very seriously. Blood can be shed.
Nobody from victims hasn’t addressed at law machinery -this public usually prefers to to keep their distance from police.
- The police has arrived while we were there, - young people explain, - one of those who attacked us, stands there with the broken face. He is asked , who has beaten him? He speaks: I was beaten by them. And shows a finger at me. In view of police we are the same, as well as they. The police also arranges such fights « for balance » by itself in Moscow. Authorities also support all this - all these ideas of patriotism, « Russian idea », Gazmanov’s songs, the organizations such as "ours" – Pytin-Jugend and so on. Neo-Nazis also appear because of such ideas,that are reduced to the point of irrationality.
Hearings about mass fights do not confirm in the Petrozavodsk’s Department of Internal Affairs. According to the words of employee of the press-group of the Department of Internal Affairs ,Leonid Rozenberg, those days which about victims tell, the duty department was really messaged about fight near to university .The police was called by someone from the tenants of the nearby house. However ,by the time the emergency plat arrived on a place , there was not any fight yet , according to policemen.
- Mass fights such as “face to face” was not in Petrozavodsk since 80th years, - Leonid Rosenberg speaks. - If something like thisoccured we would , certainly, know about it and would be engaged in it.
Petrozavodsk’s people, who defend human rights,suppose that law machinery should consider tricks of neo-Nazis more attentively. Especially to that these "developing attacts", on strange concurrence, have begun right after the fact ,that in local press there appeared statements of unknown characters, declaring that they represent local "skinheads" and they are going to create own party to participate in elections. Petrozavodsk neo-Nazis only once have made a legal attempt to appear on a political arena before. In the middle of 90th years the Karelian department of Russian national unity tried to participate in governor's elections. Soon after that the Ministry of Justice of the republic has declared the registration of this association in republic illegal, and nothing about RNE in Karelia was heard since then.
- We know, that there are skinheads in Petrozavodsk , white-power – the community, - the head of public organization « Youth human rights group » Maxim Efimov has told. - They let us know about them from time to time by means of arsons, threats, beatings of those who « do not look alike ». All the city is ornamented by a swastika, inscriptions of xenophobia, anti-Semitic character. They’ve got close contacts with like-minded persons from Saint Petersburg.There are constantly murders on motives of ethnic and religious hatred are adjusted. I consider, that thing which has happened is not simple hooliganism. These fights are preparation for any more serious and scale crime. Probably, skinheads,having initiating fight, passed a certain ceremony of dedication in members of a skin-gang and showed to each other and to the senior comrades the readiness to apply force against their enemies at any moment. Today these enemies are informals, and tomorrow any of us can become their enemy! I am afraid, that they will not stop on it, and if we don’t accept strict measures now ,Karelia should “wait” for terrible crimes owing to hatred and bad glory of fascist region. Unfortunately, nobody practically struggles with these degenerate youth today. The state contains an enormous army of police . Its problems are establishing a social order and struggle against criminality, otherwise what for police to feed? Public organizations ,which can use lawful methods to struggle with neo-fascism and racism should not be “silent” too. Our antifascist group works under the educational program of preventive maintenance of ethnoextremism, intolerance , xenofobias and chauvinism among youth, it carries out various street actions, including painting over a swastika and xenofobias graffity. The majority of people does not belong to any nationalist groupings, but many feel antipathy, and even frankly hostile attitude to representatives of many other nationalities, to these "informals", being guided, as a rule, by negative stereotypes. If we do not pay attention to this, these attacks can soon end up murders, God forbid.
People, who defend human rights suppose , that those people, who have suffered from hands of "skinheads", should address to police and insist on the fact , that their criminal case against them has been excited not on the facts of beatings ,but for propagation of neo-Nazi slogans.