Bloody confession

A student of icon painting school detained recently in Moscow on murder suspicion of a native Armenian has claimed a connection to more than 30 murders of non- Russians perpetrated during less than a year.

The 18 year old Artur Ryno said to investigators he committed murders on national hatred to "clean up the city" and allegedly started murders in August 21, the same day a group of skinheads detonated a bomb at Cherkizovsky market in Moscow that killed 13 people. (Cherkizovsky market is controlled by natives of Caucasus and Central Asia)

Law enforcement are checking Ryno story, while a medical examination is expected to determine if he is mentally sound.

Ryno was detained in April with his friend, a student Pavel Skachevsky, soon after they allegedly killed Armenian businessman, 46 year old Karen Abrahamyan, who was found with more than 20 stab wounds near his home. The youth, believed to be skinheads, were covered with blood when caught on a tram. Police said the murder of Abrahamyan was caught on a surveillance camera.

Abrahamyan was Ryno's only Armenian victim, but the fifth Armenian killed in Moscow from the beginning of the year. Last week another Armenian, 30 year old Aharon Tigranyan was stabbed to death near his home.

Despite the investigation has not revealed whether all murders were committed on national ground the issue of xenophobia is a matter of hot concern in Russia. People with dark skin are often attacked by skinheads and there are frequent clashes between students in Moscow universities, believed to be based on ethnic hatred.

According to the Moscow based "Sova" non governmental organization, in 2006 xenophobic attacks killed 54 persons and injured 466.

In 2007 the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor of the State Department released its annual report criticizing the Russian authorities for tolerance to the skinheads' activity.

Sergei Minasyan, a political scientist of the Caucasus Media Institute says Armenians are protected in Moscow neither less nor more than other nationalities, and that he does not see any public condemnation of Russian society to the murders.

"Xenophobia is a problem of a state where ideology is in a crisis," he says. "We can not state either that the Russian authority backs the radical movements, or that Russia's residents (Russians) do care much for such crimes. It is not that they sympathize to what skinheads do, but the social redistribution of property that happened after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the huge flow of migration from all corners of former soviet republics apparently do not promote compassion to non Russians."

Armenian officials in Moscow though admit the zenophobia is an existing reality in Moscow but say that at least the law-enforcement bodies respond very quickly to investigation of murders.

"Sometimes Armenians claim that the murders of Armenians remain unrevealed citing some dubious mass media sources," Armen Ghevondyan, the adviser of the Armenian Embassy in Moscow told ArmeniaNow by phone.

"Meanwhile this year suspects in all murders of Armenians were detained very quickly and some in less than 24 hours," he said.

"There is nothing again Armenians. The nationality does not mean anything for the skinheads; they do not choose specifically native Armenian or Tajik. They go to the metro, see a person with dark hair or eyes and that's it, a person is an alien, so he becomes a target."

"We should not view the murders, no matter Armenians or any other nationality as the response of Russian society to non Russians. Nor should all murders be qualified as the result of xenophobia. But it should be viewed in the light of a megapolises where migration can not be stopped and where tolerance is unfortunately on a very low level."

In a related case (from PanArmenian.net): The Moscow circuit court has acquitted Roman Polusnyak, the alleged murderer of 19-year-old Armenian Artur Sardaryan. The jury, with 10 against 2 votes, found Polusnyak not guilty despite the evidence of two witnesses, who identified him.

Artur Sardaryan was killed May 25, 2006 in a Moscow-Pushkino train near Klyazma station. Two skinheads assaulted him shouting "Long live Russia" and plunged a knife into his chest for some 6 times. About two dozens of passengers were nearby, two of them identified Roman Polusnyak, RFE/RL reports.

Armenia Liberty reports that the Sardaryan's parents said they'd lost the law suit because of the lack of money. They said they needed $2,000. -By Julia Hakobyan

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