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AUTHORITIES DISPUTE COSSACK ETHNIC CLASH
The Moscow Times
February 19, 2007 Monday
Police are dismissing reports of ethnic clashes in a Stavropol region
town following the shooting of a Cossack leader.
Andrei Khanin was shot in the head Tuesday in Novoaleksandrovsk. He
died Saturday.
Media reported that there were clashes between Cossacks and Georgians
and Armenians in the wake of the shooting.
Now, Ekho Moskvy radio reported, police and local authorities say
the reports are not true.
State Duma Deputy Sergei Ivanov, not to be confused with the former
defense minister and current first deputy prime minister, asked the
Duma's Security Committee on Friday to investigate reports of the
clashes, which he compared to the disturbances in Kondopoga last year,
Ekho Moskvy reported.
Two people were killed in interethnic clashes in the Karelian town
of Kondopoga in September.
Alexander Belov, head of the ultranationalist Movement Against
Illegal Immigration, or DPNA, told Novy Region on Friday that kiosks
belonging to Georgians and Armenians were set on fire in the clashes
in Novoaleksandrovsk. Novy Region further reported that the Federal
Security Service imposed a ban on any media reports on the clashes.
The DPNA, among others, was accused of stirring ethnic tensions
in Kondopoga.
Police have arrested a 24-year-old man in connection with Khanin's
shooting.
The local prosecutor's office said the shooting was tied to a personal
grudge and was not racially motivated, RIA-Novosti reported.
Mikhail Serkov, another Cossack leader from the Stavropol region,
told RIA-Novosti on Saturday that Khanin's death might be connected
to his investigation into a local factory that was releasing waste
into a local river.
"Khanin received threats after [he began investigating]," Serkov said.
The Moscow Times
February 19, 2007 Monday
Police are dismissing reports of ethnic clashes in a Stavropol region
town following the shooting of a Cossack leader.
Andrei Khanin was shot in the head Tuesday in Novoaleksandrovsk. He
died Saturday.
Media reported that there were clashes between Cossacks and Georgians
and Armenians in the wake of the shooting.
Now, Ekho Moskvy radio reported, police and local authorities say
the reports are not true.
State Duma Deputy Sergei Ivanov, not to be confused with the former
defense minister and current first deputy prime minister, asked the
Duma's Security Committee on Friday to investigate reports of the
clashes, which he compared to the disturbances in Kondopoga last year,
Ekho Moskvy reported.
Two people were killed in interethnic clashes in the Karelian town
of Kondopoga in September.
Alexander Belov, head of the ultranationalist Movement Against
Illegal Immigration, or DPNA, told Novy Region on Friday that kiosks
belonging to Georgians and Armenians were set on fire in the clashes
in Novoaleksandrovsk. Novy Region further reported that the Federal
Security Service imposed a ban on any media reports on the clashes.
The DPNA, among others, was accused of stirring ethnic tensions
in Kondopoga.
Police have arrested a 24-year-old man in connection with Khanin's
shooting.
The local prosecutor's office said the shooting was tied to a personal
grudge and was not racially motivated, RIA-Novosti reported.
Mikhail Serkov, another Cossack leader from the Stavropol region,
told RIA-Novosti on Saturday that Khanin's death might be connected
to his investigation into a local factory that was releasing waste
into a local river.
"Khanin received threats after [he began investigating]," Serkov said.