Associated Press Worldstream
September 13, 2006 Wednesday

Lawyer: Student arrested in killing of ethnic Armenian in Moscow

A student at a police preparatory school has been arrested on
suspicion of killing an ethnic Armenian teenager, a lawyer for the
victim’s family said Wednesday.

The suspect has been charged with murder motivated by ethnic hatred,
lawyer Simon Tsaturian told state-run Channel One television.

The victim, Vigen Abramyants, a 17-year-old student at a Moscow
university, was stabbed to death on a Moscow subway platform in
April. The attack came amid a wave of hate crimes that has plagued
Russia.

A high school student was initially detained in the attack, and
prosecutors said he confessed, but Channel One said he was later
released for lack of evidence.

Tsaturian said the suspect now in custody, whom he identified as
Nikita Sinkov, was a student at a school that prepares young people
for police careers.

Moscow prosecutors could not immediately be reached for comment.