Two defendants deny their attack on Vladislav Ryazantsev

On October 12, the Kirov District Court of Rostov-on-Don held the first session on the case of the attack on Vladislav Ryazantsev, a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, committed in that city.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Vladislav Ryazantsev was beaten up on January 10 near the government building of the Rostov Region; his attackers were stopped by passers-by. The responsibility for the attack was taken up by the so-called "Russian National Socialists", who stated that the attack was an "educational work" with the journalist as retaliation for "his public activities."

The prosecution believes that the defendants are supporters of radical forms of nationalism, and committed their crime based on ideological hatred and enmity in the interests of the extremist organization named “Misanthropic Division”, which is banned by a court decision.

Investigators have found out that the organization is headed by Roman Zheleznov, a Russian citizen now living in Ukraine. The indictment read out by the prosecutor says that it was Zheleznov, who used the Internet to instruct members of the grouping to attack Ryazantsev. It also follows from the indictment that, apart from attacking Ryazantsev, members and supporters of the Rostov branch of this extremist organization organized pro-fascist actions.

After the announcement of the indictment, two defendants said they fully admit their guilt, while two others rejected the charges.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.