Russian Neo Nazis declare war on ska/punk/hardcore

I CARE - News - Internet Centre Anti Racism Europe

15/10/2007- On October 13, 2007, in St. Petersburg, a ska/punk/hardcore festival “Music of the Streets” became a target of several neo-nazi attacks. The first incident happened at the beginning of the concert. A group of 15-20 neo-nazi skinheads attacked five young people. A young man had his arm broken and a girl was hospitalized with her head injured by a metal stick. The second incident happened when a Swedish group “Blisterhead” was on stage. A small bag which smelled like smoke was found in the hall and passed over to a guard who was standing near the stage. At that moment there were at least 300 hundred people in the hall. The tragedy didn’t occur only because of the swift response by the guards. The smoke was seen coming from the bag and one of the guards doused it with water and removed it from the building without attracting any attention from the crowd. The police found a homemade explosive device in the bag and the city prosecutor’s office initiated charges of illegal possession of explosives (Article 222 of the Criminal Code). The case was given over to the jurisdiction of the newly formed Investigation Committee. There has been no information about any charges of an attempted terrorist attack. The festival did not have any political overtones; however, a St. Petersburg group “Spitfire”, one of the headliners, is known as being antifascist. The festival had been widely discussed on the web by neo-nazis. Later all the discussions were deleted from the websites. Reportedly, there were more attacks on individuals before and during the concert. On October 15, St. Petersburg national socialists on their website implicitly took responsibility for these events, publishing a statement which approves the assaults and the attempted explosion and threatening antifascists and all the non-political supporters of the ska/punk/hardcore music with new attacks.

This stuff is all reminiscent of the eighties in the UK. Many UK neo-nazis prefer to wear suits now rather than being Boneheads but same feelings apply. They combine racist politics with a general tendency to violence.

2 Suspects Linked to Train Bomb
The Moscow Times, Russia - 5 Nov 2007

Two men suspected of trying to bomb a St. Petersburg club last month may have also been involved in the August bombing of a Moscow-St. Petersburg train, Fontanka.ru reported.

Vladimir Murzalev, former head of the St. Petersburg police's Primorsky district branch, told local organized crime and terrorism police units that his son -- Taras Murzalev -- and some of his friends might have been involved in the train bombing, the web site, which is run by the Agency of Journalistic Investigations, reported Friday.

It was unclear whether the former police official provided evidence for his claim, but his testimony was reported to Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev, who ordered St. Petersburg detectives to follow up, Fontanka.ru reported.

Unknown assailants bombed the Nevsky Express train in the Novgorod region on Aug. 13, injuring 60. Investigators pursued different leads, including the possibility that the bomb might have been detonated by Russian nationalists.

Investigators detained two anarchists and a native of Chechnya on suspicion of having bombed the train but had to drop the case against all the three. Police detectives then arrested two Ingush brothers in late October on suspicion of bombing the train. Their fate remains unclear.

Taras Murzalev, 23, and two other suspects were detained in late October on suspicion of having tried to bomb the Rox Club in St. Petersburg.

In the Oct. 13 incident, unidentified assailants threw a bag on stage while Swedish punk band Blisterhead was finishing its set. Smoke was emanating from the bag, and the club's employees poured water on it before taking it outside.

A homemade bomb that did not detonate was subsequently discovered in the bag, consisting of 200 grams of TNT and about 800 grams of bolts, Fontanka.ru reported. If it had detonated, the bomb would have caused considerable carnage in the crowded club.

Detectives believe Taras Murzalev is a member of the Schultz-88 skinhead group, which has been implicated in numerous violent crimes, Fontanka.ru cited a police source as saying.

Chernov’s choice
St.Petersburg Times.ru, Russia -1 Nov 2007

An attempted bombing at a rock concert at the ROKS music club last month is still in the media spotlight as the police confirmed that three detained suspects belong to a neo-Nazi youth group on Wednesday, when top local police officers held a press briefing on the case.

A man aged 21 was detained last Thursday and two other men aged 20 and 21 were detained on Saturday, according to Fontanka.ru.

A diagram of the explosive device and bomb-making manuals were found when their apartments were searched.

A bag with an explosive device containing 200 grams of TNT and 700 grams of screw-bolts was found on stage by a guard during the performance of Swedish punk band Blisterhead.

The bomb did not go off because its makers made a mistake assembling it, the police were reported as saying.

The concert, which drew an estimated 400 fans, was stopped by the police as headlining local ska-band Spitfire was performing.

Article 205 of the Russian Criminal Code (terrorism), under which the detained men are being charged, can lead to 20-year prison term.

Local Nazis’ most infamous attack on a rock musician dates to Nov. 11, 2005, when 20-year-old Timur Kacharava, a punk musician and a philosophy student, was stabbed to death by a group of eight or 10 attackers in the city center, outside a Bukvoyed bookstore. An annual vigil has been held on the site on that date since then.

“I would get crazy if I were in Spitfire’s shoes,” said Alexei Nikonov of the politically-conscious local punk band PTVP that will perform a major concert at Orlandina on Friday.

“The concert is called ‘Against All,’ after the position in voting ballots that they [the Russian authorities] canceled and denied us an opportunity to vote ‘against all,’” said Nikonov by phone of Thursday.

“We decided to play political songs in this concert, but political in a broad sense — there will also be songs against philistines and against the clericalism that they push on us now.”

Despite the bomb incident and occasional visits by investigators, ROKS club is operating as usual, hosting British grindcore band Napalm Death on Friday (800 rubles, or $32, on the door.)

The headliners were:

Spitfire (Russian band) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Blisterhead have played the UK quite a bit.

Official Website:
www.blisterhead.nu

Neo Nazis attempt to bomb Rock club in Russia

It looks like the expanding far right in Russia are targeting alternative concerts as part of their battle against on the left wing youth and ethnic minorities:

"Music of the streets" festival under the bomb

"Yesterday 13th of October a bomb of 200 grams in trotyle equivalent failed to detonate in "Music of the streets" festival, organised in Roks club of St. Petersburg. Groups to perform in this festival were Spitfire (St. Petersburg), Blisterhead (Gothenburg, Sweden), Rejected (Lappeenranta, Finland), Turbo Lax (Tolyatti), Mister X (Grodno, Belarus), Engage At Will (St. Petersburg) and Mass Murder (St. Petersburg).

During concert, while Blisterhead was performing, audience noted a strange bag smoking in the hall, which was passed to the scene. Security quickly moved it to the yard, where it was covered with water. Anti-bomb squad found a bomb, 200 grams in trotyle equivalent, covered with 800 grams of bolts and other ripping objects. Concert was halted and people were evicted heavy-handedly from the premise, OMON riot police beat some people who were "on their way".

It is little doubt, that this bomb was set up by nazis, who have a long history of attempted attacks against Spitfire. 5 concert goers were also ambushed by 15-20 nazis armed with iron bars and bottles, one girl was hospitalized after being beaten to head with an iron bar, but she is already released from the hospital."

The St. Petersburg Times - News - Three Men Arrested Over Failed Bomb Attack on City Rock Club: 30/10

"Three Men Arrested Over Failed Bomb Attack on City Rock Club The St. Petersburg Times Three men have been detained by the local police in connection with an attempted bombing at a rock concert at the ROKS music club earlier this month, the local news service Fontanka.ru reported Monday. A man aged 21 was detained on Thursday and two other men aged 21 and 22 were detained on Saturday, according to Fontanka.ru. The diagram of the explosive device and bomb-making manuals were found when their apartments were searched. One of the three, who the police think was the leader, was a Muscovite.

A bag with an explosive device containing 200 grams of TNT and an amount of screw-bolts was thrown on stage during the performance of Swedish punk band Blisterhead. The bag, which started to smoke when it landed, was promptly extinguished and taken away by a guard.

The concert, which drew an estimated 400 fans, was stopped by the police as headlining local ska-band Spitfire was performing. “They checked the bomb and said that it didn’t explode because it was clumsily made,” said Spitfire drummer Denis Kuptsov on Monday.

“They stopped our performance after the eighth song and told everybody to leave.”

A case has been opened according to Article 222 of Russia’s Criminal Code (illegal possession of weapons and ammunition), which was later changed into Article 205 (terrorism), according to the agency. Although Fontanka.ru claims that police have not defined that the detainees were connected to any nationalist group, the agency earlier reported skinhead attacks near the club on the night of the concert.

It also interviewed musician Pavel Menshikov who was hospitalized with serious wounds after being attacked with knives and metal rods on his way to the concert. The police was not available for comment when contacted on Monday."