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MediaG8way: Controversy follows Neo-Nazi Murder at Environmental Camp in Siberia
JULY 28, 2007 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contact in Siberia: +79 246212465
RUSSIA – Police and state officials have repeatedly denied that
organised Neo-Nazi structures are behind the attack last week on a
enviromental protest camp in Siberia leaving several heavily injured
victims and one dead.
In the morning of the 21st of July approximately 15-20 young men in
camouflage clothing with short-cut hair and white arm bands attacked the
protest camp and beat up the 20 campers with iron bars and other
weapons, as the organisers of the camp published later that day. Ilya
Borodaenko, aged 21, from Nachodka died from craniocerebral trauma in a
hospital after suffering a head-fracture during the attack. Of the nine
other campers who were seriously injured, at least one had both legs
broken and all together five were put in the hospital with serious
conditions. Two still remain.
According to victims of the assault, police have repeatedly denied the
existence of any organized neo-fascist groups in the area or a political
background of the attack, despite obvious signs to the contrary. Victims
account of hearing the assailants “spitefully swearing” about the
Russian anti-fascist movement while they beat the campers. According to
eye-witnesses, authorities have attempted to cover up the far-right
ideology behind the attack. In their written statement victims decry the
”pressing requests of the representatives of the police and the Office
of Public Prosecutor to participants of the camp not to make a scandal
and to avoid any communication with journalists.” This follows a trend
in recent years where police and the government mislabel such attacks
and neo-nazi murders as merely “hooligan attacks” in an effort to
downplay right-wing extremist political violence.
There has been a marked increase in neo-nazi attacks on migrants as well
as anti-fascist and other political activists in recent years. This was
at least the fourth murder of a young active antifascist in less than 2
years. In November 2005 Timur Kacharava was killed, in April 2006 -
Alexandr Ruhin, in March 2007 – Stanislav Korepanov. American President
George Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, amongst others, have
critiqued Russian President Putin for suppressing protest and banning
critical press and political dissent. In the case of the slain Ilya
Borodaenko, police refuse to speak of politics, instead again claiming
the attack was done by youth hooligan gangs and theft was the only
motivation.
The protest camp took place in opposition to the planned construction of
the International Uranium Enrichment Centre (IUEC) at the Angarsk
Uranium Enrichment Plant (AUEP), less than 100 km away from the Baikal
Sea natural heritage site. The state agency Ros-Atom is responsible for
the building of the AUEP, which was encouraged by a new USA/Russia
brokered dear made at the G8 Summit of 2006 in St.Petersburg. One
activist stated, “According to the offical G8 web-site, the Angarsk
nuclear facility was to be a model of the new USA/Russia deal to help
open markets in nuclear products.” The organization that planned the
protest camp, Ecological Wave of Baikal, had planned various rallies in
the surrounding area to inform locals about the plans and to drum up
support for a campaign to oppose the plant. Another organisers of the
camp said, “Local people often reacted positively to protest pickets and
claims against a nuclear future endangering safety and the lives of locals.”
However, despite the brutality of the attack, victims stated in an open
letter that they won’t stop the activity of their camp -or their ongoing
fight “against all that destroys both nature and human life and
dignity.” “Today we grieve. Tomorrow we will continue our struggle,”
they write.
People are encouraged to donate funds to cover the burial costs of Mr.
Borodaenko. Donations can be made via War War Resisters’ International
(www.wri-irg.org), info@wri-irg.org. People are further encouraged to
show support for Mr. Borodaenko by registering protest at Russian Embassies.
Sources and photos:
- Background on protest camp:
- http://avtonom.org/index.php?sid=5,
- http://www.ww4report.com/node/4036
- Video from Vesti (Russian mainstream TV channel):
http://www.vesti.ru/video.html?vid=105868 - Additional video from NTV ‘Independent TV’:
http://news.ntv.ru/113617/video - Regional map: http://www.lastingnews.com/maps/angarsk.html
- Photos:
- http://imc-siberia.org/node/50,
- http://www.marcvallee.co.uk/stories_vigil_russian_embassy.html,
- http://de.indymedia.org/2007/07/188489.shtml#spenden