Russian Medical School Imposes Curfew for Hitler’s Birthday
by Peter Finn; Washington Post Foreign Service
The Washington Post
April 21, 2007 Saturday
Suburban Edition
One of Russia’s leading medical schools has advised its many foreign
students to stay in their dormitories for three days, fearing they
could be attacked by neo-Nazis and skinheads marking the anniversary
of Adolf Hitler’s birth, which fell on Friday.
The warning issued by the almost 250-year-old IM Sechenov Moscow
Medical Academy, which suspended classes for its 1,940 foreign
students, was a reminder of the xenophobic and racist violence here
targeting students and migrant workers.
On Monday, a street cleaner from Tajikistan was stabbed 35 times
outside an apartment building in eastern Moscow. Surveillance cameras
on a nearby building captured two skinheads carrying out the murder,
according to news reports here. Five suspects have been arrested. On
the same day a 46-year-old Armenian businessman was stabbed 20 times
and later died in hospital. Three men were later arrested.
"It’s no secret that some extremist young people, and not just in
Russia, try to celebrate the 20th of April by attacking others," said
Sergei Baranov, acting dean of the Sechenov Academy department that
deals with foreign students. "For us, it’s better to take preventative
measures than deal with the consequences." The curfew ends Saturday.
Students in a dormitory near the academy’s main building took the
measure in stride, saying they had stocked up on food and were using
the three-day hiatus to study for final exams next month. Some said
they welcomed the concern for their well-being. "Security is very
high, and we have very good protection," said Pari Vallal, 22, an
Indian student who is in his fourth year at the academy.
Students interviewed at the school said they are constantly on alert,
especially when traveling on the Moscow Metro, where a number of
racist murders and attacks have occurred. "One person grabbed me in
the Metro and was very threatening," said Ha Quy Duong, 27, a student
from Vietnam. "I’ve been followed in this area, and you experience
verbal abuse out on the street."
Baranov said there have been no serious attacks on students attending
the academy.