Following several Antisemitic events across the country last year, the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia (FEOR) announced that it would reintroduce a hot line for Russian Jews to call if they experience antisemitism, the report points out. The line connects victims to lawyers who can advise them on the proper legal steps to consider after an attack.
In May, the report, notes, the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia (FEOR) released a statement of concern of a several Antisemitic incidents in the city of Ulyanovsk.
According to FEOR, on April 20 (Hitler’s birthday) graffiti reading “death to the kikes” appeared in several parts of the city. On May 1, antisemitic leaflets were circulated at a Communist party meeting, and on May 9 (Victory Day), a group of people attacked the city’s Jewish community center, but were luckily scared off by police. The next day, a group of people threw stones at the community center, breaking some windows. A local Jewish leader was quoted in the statement saying that he thinks the attacks are the work of an organized group. Police are investigating the incidents. Two years ago, the same building was attacked by members of the far-right Russian All-National Union, who screamed antisemitic threats as they stormed the building.
The report also accuses Russian courts of giving “lenient sentences” to Antisemitic perpetrators.
For example, in October 2009, a court in Orenburg sentenced five neo-Nazis for stabbing an Uzbek man to death, according to an October 5, 2009 report by the local affiliate of the State Television and Radio Company (GTRK). The youths videotaped the February 2007 murder and posted the footage on the Internet, so it is not clear why the sentencing took over two years. Due to this delay, only three of the defendants were sentenced to prison time–seven and eight years in prison for the two extremists that the court determined stabbed the victim, and three years for another defendant. Prosecutors dropped charges against the other two defendants, since the statute of limitations had expired on their crime at some point during the drawn out trial.
Separately, the report singles out far-right, anti-immigration political parties for using marches “as opportunities to chant antisemitic and racist slogans.” Such groups are routinely permitted to march despite these actions.
While improvements have been visible, the report concludes that much more steps must be taken to combat Antisemitism across Russia.
