Violent Protests Spur Moscow Authorities into Action

By Max Musson:

Keen not to see a repeat of the violent nationalist demonstrations that shook Moscow three years ago, the police and authorities have reacted quickly in the hope of placating angry Russians furious at the continuing wave of murders committed by immigrants and by the continuing presence of large numbers of central Asian immigrants in their city.

 In the latest round of protests, residents of the Biryulyovo district in southern Moscow took to the streets following the fatal stabbing of Egor Shcherbakov, a Muscovite, earlier in the week.

 Shcherbakov’s girlfriend has reported that the couple were attacked late last Thursday evening by a man she described as a native of the Caucasus and said that he had assaulted her boyfriend after trying to harass her.

 On Saturday, a group of about 40 Muscovites initially gathered for a protest in the area where the stabbing had taken place, urging the police to find and punish the attacker and demanding that a local vegetable warehouse, where many migrants work, be closed. The crowd angrily accused the police and the authorities of covering up a wave of immigrant crimes in the city and of doing too little to curb immigration in the area.

On Sunday, following apparent inaction by the police, a larger crowd of about 300 mounted an unsanctioned rally, which turned violent as their numbers swelled and hundreds of angry protesters began attacking a shopping mall – breaking windows and attempting to ransack and set on fire shops employing immigrant staff.

When confronted by about 200 riot police, the crowd, which reportedly contained many radical nationalist activists, refused to disperse and began chanting nationalist slogans. The protesters then attempted to block a road, overturning vehicles and dumpsters before heading off to attack the vegetable warehouse nearby.

At the warehouse, the crowd now numbering about 1,000 people broke in causing massive damage, hurling rocks and smashing up stalls and vending machines.

By nightfall however many more riot police had been drafted into the area, the police had made 380 arrests and had managed to restore order.

The police also closed public access to Moscow’s central Manezhnaya Square using a cordon of metal fences and increased their presence in nearby streets.

According to news reports the situation in the area is generally calm and so far no protest groups have appeared, although earlier, some activists had been detected using social media to urge the Biryulyovo protesters to come to Manezhnaya square, which was the scene of one of Russia’s worst nationalist riots in December 2010.

On that occasion, about 5,000 nationalists gathered in the square to commemorate the death of a young Muscovite who had been shot during a brawl with a group of men from Russia’s North Caucasus. However, what started as a peaceful demonstration turned violent as riot police were sent to disperse the crowds.

Meanwhile, under pressure to produce results the police have launched an investigation which has so far seen ninety suspects interviewed and as many as eighty illegal immigrants arrested and detained.

Moscow’s Southern Administrative district have also announced their intention to set up an operations headquarters to counter illegal migration in the city. Comprising of a mixture of police, federal migration service officials and members of the voluntary people’s guard, the new body will meet daily to identify flats rented to illegal migrants, to patrol the streets and to swoop on any illegal immigrants reported by the public.

While Vladimir Putin is regarded as one of the most nationalistic of world leaders, he is more a pragmatist rather than a racial nationalist and has spoken recently of the need for continued immigration into Russia from Central Asia in order to provide labour for their construction industry.

It is such a shame that the people of Moscow have found it necessary to resort to violent direct action against the businesses that employ immigrants, as the only way to get indifferent political leaders to act swiftly regarding matters of race and immigration.

By Max Musson © 2013

# # # #