ID :
74747
Tue, 08/11/2009 - 15:25
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/74747
The shortlink copeid
Hate crimes rate in Moscow down somewhat - prosecutor
.
MOSCOW, August 11 (Itar-Tass) -- Moscow has seen what looks like a
decline in the rate of hate crimes, the city's prosecutor, Yuri Syomin
said on Monday.
"There have been fewer nationalist attacks and extremism-fuelled
crimes in general, but the situation remains explosive," he said. "We are
aware of this, the more so, since elections to the Moscow city legislature
are due soon. Political activity is bound to grow.
The prosecutor's office is bracing for this sort of trend.
"During the election campaign all matters of legal abuse and
manifestations of extremism will be under our control," the prosecutor
said.
"In general extremism in Moscow has developed a downtrend. There are
no explicitly extremist crimes any more," Syomin said.
The Moscow Prosecutor's Office has carried out 276 probes into the
activity of public, religious and non-commercial organizations for their
compliance with the legislation on resistance to extremist activity and
issued 77 warnings. Fourteen requests for declaring information materials
extremist were submitted to courts of law.
.Russian, Finnish presidents to discuss export of Russian timber Tue.
SOCHI, August 11 (Itar-Tass) -- Finland's President Tarja Halonen will
pay a visit to the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday. She was invited
by her Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev. The informal meeting will be
held at the Bocharov Ruchei seaside retreat, the Kremlin's press service
said.
As he met with the leaders of Russia's leading parliamentary factions
on Monday, Medvedev promised to raise the theme of Russian timber export.
"The situation is outrageous, indeed," Medvedev said in reply to the
legislators' remarks the situation had shown no turn for the better over
years. "Raw timber keeps to be exported in huge amounts. To a certain
degree this depends on the position of our neighbors. We are interested in
the development of woodworking inside the country."
The leaders of the two countries touched upon the outlook for
cooperation in the timber industry when President Medvedev paid an
official visit to Finland last April, because, as the presidential aide,
Sergei Prikhodko said, "the operation of many Finnish pulp and paper mills
is pegged to raw materials supplies from Russia.
Last time Dmitry Medvedev and Tarja Halonen met on the sidelines of
the St. Petersburg Economic Forum in June.
It is expected that this time the Russian and Finnish presidents will
also discuss energy problems and bilateral cooperation in a variety of
fields.
.Thai court to pronounce ruling in Bout case Tue.
BANGKOK, August 11 (Itar-Tass) -- Thailand's Criminal Court on Tuesday
will declare whether Russian citizen Viktor Bout the US authorities
suspect of illegal arms trade can be extradited to the United States.
The businessman was arrested in Bangkok in March 2008 at US request.
American secret service agents took part in his detention and initial
questioning.
Bout is faced with several charges, including intention to sell arms
to Colombia's FARC rebels, and also aiding and abetting terrorist activity
with the aim of murder of US citizens.
The defense said the prosecution over the past eighteen months has
failed to provide any evidence of the businessman's guilt. The prosecutor
mostly referred to newspaper articles.
On the eve of the court's forthcoming ruling Bout's wife, Alla, told
Itar-Tass in an interview "there is the understanding that if the court is
impartial and turns an attentive ear to the defense, there will be no
extradition, the more so, since over the past one and a half years the
Americans have provided no evidence of guilt at all."
"We regard the trial as a political one, and there are a number of
confirmations of this, including US Senate members' petition addressed to
the Obama Administration. If the US request is sustained, we shall file an
appeal. Besides, there are human rights courts," Alla Bout said.
The detained Russian businessman has emphatically denied the charges
all the way. In case of extradition to the United States he may be
sentenced for life.
-0-str
MOSCOW, August 11 (Itar-Tass) -- Moscow has seen what looks like a
decline in the rate of hate crimes, the city's prosecutor, Yuri Syomin
said on Monday.
"There have been fewer nationalist attacks and extremism-fuelled
crimes in general, but the situation remains explosive," he said. "We are
aware of this, the more so, since elections to the Moscow city legislature
are due soon. Political activity is bound to grow.
The prosecutor's office is bracing for this sort of trend.
"During the election campaign all matters of legal abuse and
manifestations of extremism will be under our control," the prosecutor
said.
"In general extremism in Moscow has developed a downtrend. There are
no explicitly extremist crimes any more," Syomin said.
The Moscow Prosecutor's Office has carried out 276 probes into the
activity of public, religious and non-commercial organizations for their
compliance with the legislation on resistance to extremist activity and
issued 77 warnings. Fourteen requests for declaring information materials
extremist were submitted to courts of law.
.Russian, Finnish presidents to discuss export of Russian timber Tue.
SOCHI, August 11 (Itar-Tass) -- Finland's President Tarja Halonen will
pay a visit to the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday. She was invited
by her Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev. The informal meeting will be
held at the Bocharov Ruchei seaside retreat, the Kremlin's press service
said.
As he met with the leaders of Russia's leading parliamentary factions
on Monday, Medvedev promised to raise the theme of Russian timber export.
"The situation is outrageous, indeed," Medvedev said in reply to the
legislators' remarks the situation had shown no turn for the better over
years. "Raw timber keeps to be exported in huge amounts. To a certain
degree this depends on the position of our neighbors. We are interested in
the development of woodworking inside the country."
The leaders of the two countries touched upon the outlook for
cooperation in the timber industry when President Medvedev paid an
official visit to Finland last April, because, as the presidential aide,
Sergei Prikhodko said, "the operation of many Finnish pulp and paper mills
is pegged to raw materials supplies from Russia.
Last time Dmitry Medvedev and Tarja Halonen met on the sidelines of
the St. Petersburg Economic Forum in June.
It is expected that this time the Russian and Finnish presidents will
also discuss energy problems and bilateral cooperation in a variety of
fields.
.Thai court to pronounce ruling in Bout case Tue.
BANGKOK, August 11 (Itar-Tass) -- Thailand's Criminal Court on Tuesday
will declare whether Russian citizen Viktor Bout the US authorities
suspect of illegal arms trade can be extradited to the United States.
The businessman was arrested in Bangkok in March 2008 at US request.
American secret service agents took part in his detention and initial
questioning.
Bout is faced with several charges, including intention to sell arms
to Colombia's FARC rebels, and also aiding and abetting terrorist activity
with the aim of murder of US citizens.
The defense said the prosecution over the past eighteen months has
failed to provide any evidence of the businessman's guilt. The prosecutor
mostly referred to newspaper articles.
On the eve of the court's forthcoming ruling Bout's wife, Alla, told
Itar-Tass in an interview "there is the understanding that if the court is
impartial and turns an attentive ear to the defense, there will be no
extradition, the more so, since over the past one and a half years the
Americans have provided no evidence of guilt at all."
"We regard the trial as a political one, and there are a number of
confirmations of this, including US Senate members' petition addressed to
the Obama Administration. If the US request is sustained, we shall file an
appeal. Besides, there are human rights courts," Alla Bout said.
The detained Russian businessman has emphatically denied the charges
all the way. In case of extradition to the United States he may be
sentenced for life.
-0-str
