02:45, 13 December 2017

A defendants' friend explains attack on Ryazantsev by his work for "Caucasian Knot"

Vladislav Ryazantsev near the court, October 12, 2017. Photo by Valery Lyugaev for the "Caucasian Knot"

At trial, a friend of defendants has confirmed that one of the reasons for the attack on Vladislav Ryazantsev in Rostov-on-Don was in his activities as the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent where critical publications about "Russian nationalists" were posted. According to the testimony of the witness, the beating of the journalist was planned.

Earlier, it was reported that the trial in the case on the Vladislav Ryazantsev's beating has been going on since October. The prisoners' dock contains Ruslan Pavlyuk, Andrei Bezuglov, Alexander Vishnyakov and a teenager. Two of them pleaded not guilty, while others admitted their guilt.

Responsibility for the attack on the journalist was claimed by "Russian national socialists", who called the beating of the journalist "morale building activities" in retaliation for his "active public activity." Three of the defendants are members of the extremist organization "Misanthropic Division" banned in Russia.

Mikhail Konstantinov, Candidate of Political Science, Associate Professor of the Southern Federal University, was questioned as an expert on the radical right-wing ideology in modern society. The Professor has confirmed that radical nationalist groupings are a threat to society. Mikhail Konstantinov has noted that the ideology of those groupings is based on radical nationalism ideas, as well as the myth of national unity and alleged revival of the nation.

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

Author: Valery Lyugaev

Source: CK correspondent