According to the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (UCSJ), the RNU has a "small but active presence" in St. Petersburg (Dec. 1999, 42). The UCSJ adds that the local RNE members meet at Park Pobedy (Victory Park) in St. Petersburg every Saturday and Sunday (ibid.). According to Express Chronicle, a Moscow-based "Human Rights Weekly", RNU members regularly hold "political actions" and demonstrations, and sell publications such as the newspaper Russian Order (Russky Poryadok) and Mein Kampf in downtown St. Petersburg (10 May 1999). On 9 July 1999, there was a report of uniformed RNU members handing out issues of Russky Poryadok by a subway station in St. Petersburg (UCSJ Dec. 1999, 44).

According to a 23 March 1999 article published in Express Chronicle, the St. Petersburg police started "opposing nationalists" in early 1999, in particular following an unauthorized RNU demonstration in downtown St. Petersburg. Also referring to a change in the attitude of the local authorities towards the RNU, the Russian newspaper Kommersant claims that the crackdown on RNU local branch occurred after Moscow mayor Yurii Luzhkov's ban of the RNU in the capital had caused a wave of anti-RNU feelings among the population and government officials (UCSJ Dec. 1999, 42).

A brief chronology of RNU activities and responses by the authorities follows.

According to The Saint Petersburg Times, the RNU started its expansion outside Moscow from around 1993 (27 Apr. 1999). In St. Petersburg, a student was reported to have established a branch in November 1993 (UCSJ Mar. 1999).

From 1995 until fall 1996, the local branch was said to be "a very influential organization" (ibid.). In early February 1996, some RNU members were reported to have attended the trial of Yury Belyayev, "a nationalist leader", in St. Petersburg (ANTIFA Info-Bulletin 13 Feb. 1996).

In Fall 1996, a split was reported within the branch (UCSJ Mar. 1999).

On 6 December 1997, the fourth congress of Russian "nationalists" was held in St. Petersburg, gathering representatives of about 20 parties and movements (Itar-Tass 6 Dec. 1997). The RNU was described as a "traditional" participant of the congress (ibid.). One of the objectives of this meeting was to unite "nationalists" (ibid.).

Several sources make references to the Victory Day parade, which took place on 9 May 1998 in St. Petersburg, although their description differs (The St. Petersburg Times 29 May 1998; Express Chronicle 10 May 1999; UCSJ Dec. 1999). The St. Petersburg Times referred on 29 May 1998 to:

The presence of 200 young neo-Nazis, who were allowed to march down Nevsky Prospect and jeer the city's dwindling number of war veterans, without interference from police (29 May 1998).

While the Express Chronicle mentioned that uniformed RNU members with swastikas on their sleeves had taken part in the Victory Day parade in St. Petersburg marching behind veterans and survivors of concentration camps (10 May 1999), the UCSJ spoke of:

200 neo-nazis, many if not all of whom were RNU members ... were allowed to jeer at WW II veterans and concentration camp survivors without inspiring any reaction from the police (Dec. 1999).

On 9 September 1998, there was a report of 50 RNU members in the Park Pobedy handing out literature and enlisting young people including teenagers (UCSJ Dec. 1999, 42).

While the UCSJ reports that RNU members from Moscow "re-activated" the RNU branch in St. Petersburg in Spring 1998 (Mar. 1999), Nezavisimaya Gazeta mentions that in March 1998, 20 individuals belonging to the Voronezh regional branch of RNU founded a branch in St. Petersburg (21 Apr. 1998). Building on their experience in Voronezh, they were able to rent premises, print leaflets and store uniforms for the future members (ibid.). The RNU started enrolling new members after having posted leaflets advertising their presence in the city (ibid.). Another element of RNU's experience in Voronezh was put into practice when they established contacts with the authorities (ibid.). According to Yevgeny Lavochkin, the leader of the local RNU branch, the authorities of one of St. Petersburg central districts reached an agreement permitting RNU members to form "voluntary people's militia" to patrol jointly with the riot police, also known as OMON, the streets and markets of the city (ibid.). In exchange for this participation, the local RNU section received buildings in which to house their offices (ibid.). The section was also to be registered with the city authorities by the summer of 1998 (ibid.). According to Nezavisimaya Gazeta, the RNU was testing in St. Petersburg its strategy to set foot in other parts of Russia, with the ultimate aim of being registered with the federal authorities (ibid.). However, according to a 26 February 1999 article published in Izvestiya, the local RNU branch was active in St. Petersburg although both St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region authorities refused to register it on four occasions. The same article makes reference to the monitoring of the local media by the St. Petersburg authorities in an effort to obtain information on unregistered political organizations, a measure which caught the interest of Federal Justice Minister Pavel Krasheninnikov (ibid.).

In a 9 February 1999 article, Izvestiya reports that the St. Petersburg police suspected RNU members of being responsible for a fire at the St. Petersburg offices of Russia's Democratic Choice, former Russian Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar's political party (UCSJ Dec. 1999, 43).

On 28 February 1999, 99 RNU members were seen distributing literature in St. Petersburg Park Pobedy (Victory Park) (UCSJ Dec. 1999, 42). They were seen without their uniforms, a way of preventing the authorities from considering their activities as demonstrations (ibid.).

A USCJ report published in March 1999 claims that "the local RNU branch has good contacts with the Petersburg department of Ministry for Internal Affairs at a junior level."

However, in a 1 March 1999 meeting with journalists, the head of St. Petersburg police department Viktor Vlasov, stated that the city authorities were "ready to take a more resolute stance on unauthorized actions by radical political parties" (Itar-Tass 1 Mar. 1999). According to Itar-Tass, this "warning" was triggered by actions undertaken by RNU members in the region (ibid.).

In early March 1999, St. Petersburg police was said they were apprehending RNU members almost every day (Itar-Tass 13 Mar. 1999). For example, on 13 March 1999, eight RNU members were arrested while they were circulating issues of the newspaper Russky Poryadok (ibid.). The police were going to look for "elements of political extremism" in the seized newspapers (ibid.). Another arrest of four RNU supporters was reported on 12 March 1999 without any reason indicated (ibid.).

A 23 March 1999 article published in Express Chronicle reported that court examinations of cases involving about 20 RNU members had begun in three district courts of St. Petersburg. The charges included "illegal production and distribution of agitational literature", several administrative offences and "minor disorderly conduct" (ibid.). The Moskovsky court sent back the cases of four RNU members to the police for "follow-up" while the Frunzensky court dropped the charges for lack of "corpus delicti" (ibid.). Commenting on this decision, Judge Sergei Kuznetsov stated that RNU members had proven that they had not been distributing any "agitational literature", but had dropped the documents they had been reading (ibid.). No additional information on these legal proceedings could be found in the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

On 20-21 March 1999, the RNU held meetings in 10 Russian cities, including St. Petersburg (Kommersant 23 Mar. 1999). St. Petersburg police put an end to the meeting which counted 30 participants (ibid.). Itar-Tass reported on 20 March 1999 that the police had apprehended 11 RNU members who had tried to hold a meeting without the approval of St. Petersburg authorities. According to RNU representatives, the police released the 11 RNU members after they had verified that none of them were on their list of wanted individuals (ibid.). RNU representatives added that the police had nothing to say about their "propaganda activities" (ibid.).

On 28 April 1999, a bill "On Administrative Responsibility for the Production, Distribution and Display of Nazi Symbolism on the Territory of St. Petersburg" was reportedly passed on its first reading by the city Legislative Assembly after a unanimous vote (Express Chronicle 10 May 1999). Under the bill, the punishments for the display of Nazi symbols on banners, signs and uniforms, the production and distribution of any kind of material (printed, graphic, video) with Nazi symbols and the use of greetings linked to Germany's National Socialist Workers' Party (NSDAP) or Italy's Fascist Party would range from a warning to fines between 25 and 100 times the minimum wage (ibid.). The definition of a Nazi symbol had yet to be defined, a task that district administrative commissions would assume as the bodies in charge of ruling on violations of this bill (ibid.). According to Vadim Tyulpanov, the deputy who introduced the bill, the latter applies to the symbols used by the RNU (ibid.).

On 29 April 1999, the authorities arrested RNU members involved in a criminal group and charged them with "planting explosives at school #575 in the Tsentralnoe district and planning to attack two or three other 'socially significant targets' in an extortion bid" (UCSJ Dec. 1999, 43). According to experts, the bomb could have destroyed the whole school (ibid.).

The RNU was reported to have printed in St. Petersburg a million copies of its leaflets which were distributed in Tallinn, the Estonian capital (BNS 7 May 1999).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

ANTIFA Info-Bulletin [San Francisco]. 13 February 1996. "A Nationalist Leader is Condemned in St. Petersburg." http://burn.ucsd.edu/~aff/AFIB/afib-s7.html [Accessed 25 Aug. 2000]

BNS [Tallinn, in English]. 7 May 1999. "Nationalist Russian Party Leaflets Appear in Estonian Capital." (BBC Worldwide 8 May 1999/NEXIS)

Express-Chronicle [Moscow, in English]. 10 May 1999. "What Does a Swastika Look Like?" http://www.online.ru/sp/chronicle-eng/103-May-99/303.-eng.htm [Accessed 21 Aug. 2000]

_____. 23 March 1999. Ivan Shcheglov and Marina Bogdanova."Opposing Nationalists." http://www.online.ru/mlists/expchronicle/chronicle-weekly/23-Mar-99/2.rhtml [Accessed 21 Aug. 2000]

Itar-Tass [Moscow, in Russian]. 20 March 1999. "Police Detain 11 Nationalists in Abortive Rally." (FBIS-SOV-1999-0320 22 Mar. 1999/WNC)

_____. 13 March 1999. "Itar-Tass Review of Incidents in CIS on March 13." (NEXIS)

_____. 1 March 1999. "Russia: St Petersburg Authorities Vow to Take Tough Measures Against Radicals." (BBC Worldwide 1 Mar. 1999/NEXIS)

_____. 6 December 1997. "Nationalists Hold Congress in St. Petersburg." (BBC Summary 9 Dec. 1997/NEXIS)

Izvestiya [Moscow, in Russian]. 26 February 1999. "Plans to Monitor Media Reports on Political Extremism." (BBC Summary 5 Mar. 1999/NEXIS)

Kommersant [Moscow]. 23 March 1999. "We Have no Definitions of Fascism." (What the Papers Say 24 Mar. 1999/NEXIS)

Nezavisimaya Gazeta [Moscow]. 21 April 1998. Albert Shatrov. "The Nazis from Voronezh Have Taken St. Petersburg under their Patronage." (What the Papers Say 22 Apr. 1998/NEXIS)

The St. Petersburg Times. 27 Apr. 1999. Dmitry Babich. "Rising Nazi Movement Quashed by Luzhkov." http://www.times.spb.ru/archive/times/461/news/n_nazi.htm.htm [Accessed 18 Aug. 2000]

_____. 29 May 1998. Alice Lagnado. "City Skinheads Feed on Latent Racism." http://www.times.spb.ru/archive/times/368/skinheads.htm [Accessed 25 Aug. 2000]

Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (UCSJ). December 1999. Antisemitism, Xenophobia and Religious Persecution in Russia's Regions 1998-1999. Washington, DC: Union for Councils of Soviet Jews (UCSJ).

_____. March 1999. Vyacheslav Sukhachev. Some Mainstreams in Extremist Movements (Saint Petersburg and the Northwestern Region). http://www.fsumonitor.com/stories/StPeteRepSukhachev.shtml [Accessed 25 Aug. 2000]

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB Databases

LEXIS/NEXIS

Internet sites including:

Amnesty International (AI)

Anti-Defamation League (ADL) [New York]

Anti-Fascist Action (AFA) [London]

Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l'homme (FIDH)

Human Rights Watch (HRW)

Institute for Jewish Policy Research

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF-HR)

The Moscow Times

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)

St. Petersburg Times

The Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism at Tel Aviv University

Transitions

World News Connection (WNC)