Chris Doss The Russia Journal ---------------------------
Komsomolskaya Pravda April 20, 2002 POLITICIANS PROMOTING NEO-NAZI SKINHEAD GANGS The anti-skinhead campaign has been launched for political reasons Author: Yevgeny Anisimov [from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html] NEO-NAZI SKINHEAD GANGS HAVE EXISTED IN RUSSIA FOR AT LEAST TEN YEARS, ALONG WITH OTHER YOUTH GANGS. HOWEVER, THERE IS NOW A PUBLIC OUTCRY OVER THEM. IN ALL LIKELIHOOD, THIS CAMPAIGN HAS SOME POLITICAL BACKGROUND. HOWEVER, RUSSIA MAY PAY TOO HIGH A PRICE FOR SUCH POLITICAL PRANKS.
Neo-nazi skinhead gangs have existed in Russia for at least ten years, along with other youth gangs. However, now the public has recognized a danger in them and raised an outcry over the skinheads. Even the president devoted an entire passage in his annual address to parliament to fighting extremist gangs. What has changed, compared to past years?
Nationalist moods have been intensified among the public. It is enough to remember the nationwide anger during the latest Olympic Games, when Russian athletes were allegedly unfairly judged. Sport is closely connected with such gangs as skinheads, since many of them have come from gangs of soccer and hockey fans. Formerly they fought one another, and now they have a joint enemy: all foreigners, together with people from the Caucasus and Central Asia.
However, spontaneous feelings can hardly be developed into an organized structure without any financial assistance. Some forces are evidently trying to take advantage of the nationalist wave. Recently, some media started publishing articles explaining skinheads' "ideology" and symbols.
There are two alternative explanations for who may be eager to make the most of the anti-skinhead outcry. The first is connected with the shaping of Russia's migration policy. According to bills on Russian citizenship, this policy will be stricter than before. A propaganda campaign is necessary to justify this strictness. For this purpose it is necessary to arrange a spontaneous "people's protest" against foreigners. To make such a protest it is enough to take some inconspicuous, detested group of morons - like the skinheads - and arrange for an outcry over them; this will make some people join these morons, and then this will be "the people's spontaneous protest." Then this radical group will be liquidated, but migration laws will be made stricter "as a compromise" to prevent further "people's protests."
According to the second alternative explanation, this outcry is due to the bill on fighting extremism that will soon be submitted to the Duma. Although details of this bill are not known yet, it is clear that it will touch on certain groups of people, up to the Communists if they assemble too many people on the streets and squares for rallies against the "anti-people regime." Skinheads are the best specimens to provide grounds for such a bill. Nobody will defend these jerks, but it is possible to scare public opinion by using them. Against the background of this outcry, it will be easy to pass this law in the Duma.
These scenarios are quite typical of modern political consultants, who are not squeamish about employing the baser instincts to achieve their ends. Like many police and state officials, they want to benefit from nationalism too.
However, it is too dangerous to play with nationalism. If this genie is let out of the bottle, it will not go back. The seeds of nationalism may be spread by the skinhead gangs throughout the country, to create some horrifying offshoots. We do not know what Russian nationalism is, and God help us if we should find out.
In Krasnodar, a group of skinheads attacked the Slavyanskoe cemetery and started desecrating Armenian graves. Boris Brashovash, the cemetery guard, noticed the thugs. He said, "The guys were smashing gravestones with hammers. I looked out of my cabin but then realized that I couldn't fight such a large group."
Men in black are walking among the desecrated graves. They are not enraged, but shocked. One of them, Grigory Manucharyan, said: "Three years ago, a similar attack was arranged before Easter, when 130 Armenian and Jewish graves were desecrated. Those responsible were never found. You see, a split in society always starts from cemeteries, as it happened in Azerbaijan and Yugoslavia."
Boris Glebov, Chief of the Public Security Police of the Krasnodar Territorial Interior Affairs Department, told journalists that the presence of skinhead gangs is out of the question in the Krasnodar territory, because they are not officially registered with the regional Department of Justice.
Police detained three thugs who participated in the acts of vandalism. The oldest is 17, and the youngest is 14. They address each other by nicknames: Horse, Tank, Spider, etc. The oldest of the vandals, Sergeant, is being sought now. Overall, there are about 20 people in the gang.
The Krasnodar police have been actively preparing for April 20. Rumors are circulating that skinheads intend to gather together in Anapa. Markets will be specially guarded, since most traders there are from Georgia and Armenia.
The Chelyabinsk gang of skinheads is not numerous - perhaps slightly over 20 people. They gather near the sports stadium, in a ruined bathhouse. One day two of them, who had been drinking, decided to "purge the city" by killing someone. They quickly found a 20-year- old homeless retarded man, who was spending the night in the same bathhouse. They beat him for a long time, throwing bricks on his head, and when he was dead they set fire to the hairs in his armpits. On April 19, the two criminals, a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old, were sentenced to five-and-a-half and eight-and-a-half year jail terms respectively. Both boys are from well-off families. They even played in a band called Inkvizitsia (Inquisition), which sometimes gave concerts at school under the name Druzhba (Friendship). (Translated by Kirill Frolov)