MOSNEWS, Russia
July 27 2005

Moscow Woman Awarded $1,500 After Killing Would-Be Rapist

A Russian nationalist group, the Movement against Illegal
Immigration, has awarded Moscow woman Alexandra Ivannikova more than
$1,500 after she killed an ethnic Armenian who attempted to rape her,
the Izvestia newspaper reported Wednesday.

`This 50,000 ruble award was a noble outburst of the soul, which we
would have felt awkward refusing,’ Ivannikova’s husband Oleg, who
admitted receiving the money, was quoted by Izvestia as saying.

The money was raised by the movement’s supporters. The Movement
against Illegal Immigration states there are too many ethnic
minorities from the Caucasus region living in Russia, `who do not
respect Slavs enough.’ The group suggests that society should fight
this trend.

This is not the first reward Ivannikova has received. The Golden
Palace Moscow casino gave her a trip to the country of her choice, as
a prize for her `civil responsibility’.

Alexandra Ivannikova, 30, received a two-year suspended sentence
after killing ethnic Armenian Sergey Bagdasaryan, who she said had
tried to rape her in his taxi. The case received wide coverage in the
local press and among the general public, while the victim’s
ethnicity brought nationalist parties to Ivannikova’s side.

Prosecutors later asked for the sentence to be annulled, and she was
fully acquitted.