Russian court bans ultranationalist group for promoting Nazi ideology
By APWednesday, April 28, 2010
Russian court bans neo-Nazi group
MOSCOW — The Moscow City Court says it has outlawed one of Russia’s largest ultranationalist group because it promoted neo-Nazi ideology.
The court said in a statement Wednesday the Slavic Union was banned for its extremism. The group’s Russian acronym, SS, copies the abbreviation for the feared Nazi paramilitary.
Four of the group’s activists were sentenced to life in prison for organizing a series of explosions, including a 2006 blast at a Moscow market that killed 14.
The group’s leader Dmitry Demushkin told The Associated Press it has tried to promote the far-right agenda legally, and warned the ban would further radicalize ultranationalists.
Slavic Union has since 1999 organized anti-migrant rallies and, Demushkin has said, cyber attacks against Muslim and Jewish websites.
