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Every few weeks, an Armenian is slain by racist Russians. The Russian government doesn't care, and isn't condemning most of these racially motivated murders. How should the Armenians of Russia react to these criminal acts?
Here's the latest:
Armenian Teen Slain on Train
By Carl Schreck
Staff Writer
A group of young men yelling "Glory to Russia" stabbed an Armenian teenager to death last week on a crowded commuter train, prosecutors and the lawyer of the victim's family said Tuesday.
Prosecutors are classifying the fatal attack as a hate crime.
Artur Sardaryan, 19, was on the train at about 11 p.m. Thursday when he was approached by the assailants and repeatedly stabbed in the chest with a knife, said Yelena Rossokhina, a spokeswoman for the Moscow region prosecutor's office.
There were thought to be about 20 people on the train, heading from Moscow to the city of Pushkino, at the time of the attack.
No suspects had been detained as of Tuesday.
"According to witnesses, the killers were yelling, 'Glory to Russia' and 'Long live Russia,'" said Simon Tsaturyan, the Sardaryan family's lawyer.
Tsaturyan said the attackers pulled the train's emergency lever after stabbing Sardaryan and fled the scene. Sardaryan died on the spot, Tsaturyan said.
Tsaturyan said he did not know why it took the authorities five days before issuing any public statements about the stabbing. Rossokhina did not comment on the time lag.
Sardaryan was a Russian citizen.
The killing came one month after a 17-year-old ethnic Armenian was stabbed to death on the platform of the Pushkinksaya metro station in central Moscow.
There have been numerous hate crimes across the country in recent months, with victims including Africans, Central Asians and other dark-skinned people. President Vladimir Putin, in his Victory Day speech earlier this month, linked skinheads and other violent extremists with the fascists of the previous century.
On April 23, a group of young people attacked Vagan Abramyants, with one of them stabbing him with a knife in the chest. Abramyants died at the scene. One student was detained but was released after police failed to find enough evidence to charge him.
Tsaturyan, who is also representing Abramyants' family, said there had been no breakthroughs in the investigation of last month's slaying. Abramyants was also a Russian citizen.
Ara Abramyan, head of the Union of Armenians in Russia, called Thursday's slaying a "clear provocation" ahead of the G8 summit in St. Petersburg "by the forces of evil that don't want the democratic and civilized development of Russia," Interfax reported Tuesday.
Abramyan said Armenians had not been singled out. "Fascists don't choose people by their ethnicity," he told Interfax. "They choose their victims according to the color of their skin and eyes."
Abramyan said his organization would organize a conference on hate crimes by mid-July. The conference would include representatives from civic organizations and law enforcement officials.
"We believe it's necessary to organize a round table as soon as possible to discuss the problem of xenophobia and cultivating tolerance," Abramyan told Interfax.
According to Tsaturyan, Sardaryan and his family fled anti-Armenian pogroms in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1989. Artur Sardaryan obtained Russian citizenship in 1992.
link: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/storie...05/31/011.html
Here's the latest:
Armenian Teen Slain on Train
By Carl Schreck
Staff Writer
A group of young men yelling "Glory to Russia" stabbed an Armenian teenager to death last week on a crowded commuter train, prosecutors and the lawyer of the victim's family said Tuesday.
Prosecutors are classifying the fatal attack as a hate crime.
Artur Sardaryan, 19, was on the train at about 11 p.m. Thursday when he was approached by the assailants and repeatedly stabbed in the chest with a knife, said Yelena Rossokhina, a spokeswoman for the Moscow region prosecutor's office.
There were thought to be about 20 people on the train, heading from Moscow to the city of Pushkino, at the time of the attack.
No suspects had been detained as of Tuesday.
"According to witnesses, the killers were yelling, 'Glory to Russia' and 'Long live Russia,'" said Simon Tsaturyan, the Sardaryan family's lawyer.
Tsaturyan said the attackers pulled the train's emergency lever after stabbing Sardaryan and fled the scene. Sardaryan died on the spot, Tsaturyan said.
Tsaturyan said he did not know why it took the authorities five days before issuing any public statements about the stabbing. Rossokhina did not comment on the time lag.
Sardaryan was a Russian citizen.
The killing came one month after a 17-year-old ethnic Armenian was stabbed to death on the platform of the Pushkinksaya metro station in central Moscow.
There have been numerous hate crimes across the country in recent months, with victims including Africans, Central Asians and other dark-skinned people. President Vladimir Putin, in his Victory Day speech earlier this month, linked skinheads and other violent extremists with the fascists of the previous century.
On April 23, a group of young people attacked Vagan Abramyants, with one of them stabbing him with a knife in the chest. Abramyants died at the scene. One student was detained but was released after police failed to find enough evidence to charge him.
Tsaturyan, who is also representing Abramyants' family, said there had been no breakthroughs in the investigation of last month's slaying. Abramyants was also a Russian citizen.
Ara Abramyan, head of the Union of Armenians in Russia, called Thursday's slaying a "clear provocation" ahead of the G8 summit in St. Petersburg "by the forces of evil that don't want the democratic and civilized development of Russia," Interfax reported Tuesday.
Abramyan said Armenians had not been singled out. "Fascists don't choose people by their ethnicity," he told Interfax. "They choose their victims according to the color of their skin and eyes."
Abramyan said his organization would organize a conference on hate crimes by mid-July. The conference would include representatives from civic organizations and law enforcement officials.
"We believe it's necessary to organize a round table as soon as possible to discuss the problem of xenophobia and cultivating tolerance," Abramyan told Interfax.
According to Tsaturyan, Sardaryan and his family fled anti-Armenian pogroms in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1989. Artur Sardaryan obtained Russian citizenship in 1992.
link: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/storie...05/31/011.html
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