Trial of Yaroslavl bomb suspect begins

MOSCOW, Jan. 29 (JTA) — Trial proceedings have begun against a man accused of bombing the Jewish community center in Yaroslavl. An explosive charge equivalent to more than 2 pounds of TNT was used in April’s attack in Yaroslavl, which is located about 130 miles northeast of Moscow. The bombing caused no injuries, but led to $40,000 in damage to the community center. Aleksandr Sypin, a 29-year-old unemployed man, is facing charges of hooliganism in the trial, which is being held in Yaroslavl. If convicted, he could receive a maximum of three years in prison. Sypin was a member of Derzhava, Russian for “Power,” a small Yaroslavl-based group of ultranationalist youths. In the 1980s, he was a member of Pamyat, or “Memory,” which at the time was Russia’s largest ultranationalist, anti-Semitic organization.