The court rejected the prosecution's appeal against the men's acquittal in October 2006 in St. Petersburg. Witnesses of the murder say the 20-year-old victim, Vu An Tuan, was attacked by a group of young men dressed like skinheads.
Russia has seen a wave of racist attacks in past years, many of them in St. Petersburg.
(Reuters, Interfax)
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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