MIA's anti-extremism department may hold inquiry into Kalmyk student's murder in Moscow

Head of the Republic of Kalmykia Kirsan Ilyumzhinov said that he would take the investigation of the crime, committed at night on April 21 in Moscow as a result of which Kalmyk student Dolgan Nikeev was killed and his friend Vladimir Sanzhiev was wounded, under his personal supervision, the President's press service reports.

In this context Mr Ilyumzhinov sent an official request to Alexander Bastrykin, First Deputy of the General Public Prosecutor of Russia and Chairman of the Investigatory Committee at the Prosecutor's Office (ICPO) of the Russian Federation, and to Rashid Nurgaliev, Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia.

He said in his request that "the crime has caused a broad public resonance, grief and indignation of the republic's population."

The ICPO refused to make any comments by phone on Ilyumzhinov's statement.

In his turn, Oleg Elnikov, head of the press centre of the MIA of Russia, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that at the moment he knew nothing about the request of the Kalmyk, but if such existed, Mr Ilyumzhinov would receive an official answer in the established order.

He did not exclude that the recently created Anti-Extremism Department of the MIA of the Russian Federation could be involved in the investigation of the case. Mr Elnikov also added that any murder that has attributes of extremism "is taken to account and put under control by the ministry," however, "in order to prove that the murder was committed because of national hatred, it is necessary to fulfil a great work."

"Let us take four skinheads who beat a guy of non-Slavic appearance, and the latter dies. Let us also assume that the militia detained the culprits and there are witnesses - it may look that everything is clear. But then interrogations begin - and the detainees start denying everything: 'we don't belong to any unofficial movement; we're shaved bold because we like it; and we've beaten the guy - but he was the first to offend us.' And whatever you do - in no way you'll prove the motive of national enmity in this case. Therefore, what seems clear as daylight to ordinary inhabitants needs quite a lot of proofs and evidences from the point of view of jurisdiction," said Mr Elnikov.