Russia / Neo-Nazism

Judge Who Targeted Russia's Neo-Nazis is Found Shot Dead
By Shaun Walker
The Independent, April 13, 2010
"A leading Russian judge who received death threats after handing out long prison sentences to nationalist and neo-Nazi groups was shot dead yesterday in Moscow. Eduard Chuvashov was shot three times in the stairwell outside his second-floor apartment, just before 9am as he was leaving for work. Sources in Russian law-enforcement said that nationalist groups could have been behind the attack. Mr. Chuvashov, 47, had handled several high-profile cases involving racist killings, and death threats were posted along with his photograph on extremist online forums. In February, Mr. Chuvashov presided over the trial of 12 members of an ultra-nationalist group called the 'White Wolves' who were accused of a series of gruesome murders of migrant workers, mostly from Central Asia. The victims had been bludgeoned to death or stabbed many times. The killings were recorded on mobile phones and posted online. Mr. Chuvashov found all of the gang members guilty and sentenced them to up to 23 years in prison. Last week, he jailed another three members of a skinhead group for racist murders. ...
Russian news agencies reported that Mr. Chuvashov had been offered protection by Russian security services after receiving death threats, but he declined the offer of a bodyguard. Mr. Brod said that two judges working on cases involving nationalists were attacked in Russia in 2004. One was shot dead, and another survived after a car bomb was placed under her car. The murder also recalls last January's slaying of Stanislav Markelov, a lawyer who had worked on cases involving neo-Nazis and was shot dead in daylight on a central Moscow street. Two members of an ultra-nationalist group have been charged with the murder. [...]"