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From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng (Original Message) Sent: 1/4/2007 3:13 PM
Russians Humiliate Chechens in Moscow
Publication time: 1 January 2007, 10:19
On a recent Sunday morning, three busloads of Russian teenagers wearing green armbands emblazoned with the word "Locals" stormed into a bustling produce market in this Moscow suburb, screaming "Down with migrants!"
They stalked past aisles of dried fruit and pickled garlic, singling out traders with non-Slavic faces and demanding to see passports and proof that their produce was safe. Some of the teens looked to be as young as 14. Though they had no authority, they carried on like immigration agents, barking out demands and commandeering the market for nearly two hours.
"They were humiliating us, and I don't know why," said Zoya Abdullayeva, 40, a citizen of the Russian-occupied Chehcnya who sells cabbage at the market. "They looked for anyone with dark hair and dark skin. It was a circus."
A year and a half ago, a non-Slavic looking Sergei Fateyev quit his job as an economist at a quasi-governmental firm and formed Mestnye, the Russian word for "locals." The group takes aim at migrants who "violate our laws and traditions," Fateyev said during an interview at a posh Moscow nightclub.
His FSB-sponsored group began with 250 members. Today it is 150,000-strong and enjoys the backing of the governor of the Moscow region, Boris Gromov. The raids carried out by Mestnye on Nov. 26 involved 6,500 members descending on 20 suburban Moscow markets. Traders at the Reutov market said some Mestnye teenagers took over trading stalls, shouting, "Don't buy goods from migrants--buy from Russian traders!"
"The markets are stuffed with migrants, both illegal and legal," said Fateyev, 35, an articulate, cautious Russian. "They keep our farmers, Russian farmers, from selling their goods at markets. We don't know how and where they store their products. Many of them have no medical documents, and they may have an infection that spreads."
While Fateyev's group is building steam, Alexander Potkin's Movement Against Illegal Immigration is a national phenomenon.
Potkin (aka "Belov"), a Russian jew, is the FSB poster child for "Russian nationalism". When an Aug. 29 bar fight between Russians and Chechens ignited a wave of riots in the northern town of Kondopoga, Potkin and his FSB-sponsored activists appeared on the scene to rev up anger toward local Chechens. Russians responded by firebombing Caucasian-owned restaurants and businesses, prompting scores of local Chechens and other Caucasian migrants to flee.
Potkin, 30, calls his problem with migrants "a disease that needs to be cured right now. I'd even say it's a little too late."
Source: Chicago Tribune
http://www.kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2007/01/01/7035.shtml
