Simonov: this month over 50 nationalist and racist graffitis found in Sochi

During this month, activists of the Youth Network against Racism and Intolerance found in Sochi over 50 drawings and inscriptions with nationalist and racist content – these are the results of the monitoring, dated to the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

During March, activists looked for hate symbols and nationalistic inscriptions, made photos and fixed the location. The dominating signs are National Socialist swastikas, crosses and kolovrats.

"These signs are intended to intimidate and inject the sense of fear into the local multinational community and show alleged superiority of one nation over others," said Semyon Simonov, the initiator of the monitoring, the coordinator of the Sochi-based reception office of the network "Migration and Law" of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

According to his story, hate symbols "are also terrible because of the fact that they cause addiction in ordinary people and can become the norm."

A package with photos and addresses of the graffitis and inscriptions was sent to the Administration and police of Sochi with a demand to eliminate them.