Russia Bans 'Mein Kampf'

Adolf Hitler

Russian prosecutors today banned Adolf Hitler's book "Mein Kampf" in a bid to curb the growth of militant far-right groups.

The prosecutor-general's office said in a statement that the book "justifies discrimination and destruction of non-Aryan races."

The statement added that Hitler's 1925 book "has been freely available up to now on several websites and was also sold semi-legally by booksellers."

Russia already has a law that automatically qualifies all books written by leaders of the German Nazi Party as extremist, but "Mein Kampf" was not explicitly named as a banned book, putting it in a legal gray area.

The ban will make the sale or distribution of "Mein Kampf" punishable by a fine.

compiled from agency reports