Four Russian youths were sentenced for anti-Semitic vandalism and threats against Jews. The four locals received sentences from a court in central Russia ranging from three years in prison to a fine equal to 80 hours worth of salary for painting anti-Semitic death threats on a community center, according to Sem40.ru. Prosecutors in the Lenin district court had charged the four with inciting ethnic hatred or hostility.
The graffiti was painted on the building on Jan. 29 in the central Russian city of Ulyanovsk, the birthplace of Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, where monitoring groups fear a strong resurgence of skinhead culture is taking place. A sociologist who spoke with the defendants and viewed the graffiti determined it was “an open call to kill Jews.” In recent months, houses also have been vandalized and local officials shut down a nationalist newspaper in Ulyanovsk.
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