Pugachyov rally demands action against alleged offenders from Caucasus, Central Asia
PUGACHYOV, Russia. July 11 (Interfax) - About 600 people gathered in the central square of Pugachyov on Thursday evening to demand that local authorities take action against alleged offenders from among the population from the Caucasus and Central Asia living in the town.
Pugachyov, which lies in the Saratov region, has been rocked by unrest after a July 6 incident during which a 16-year-old visitor from Chechnya killed a local 20-year-old man in what is said to have been a trivial brawl over a girl.
Those present at Thursday's rally included members of nationalist organizations from other parts of Russia.
Speakers at the gathering demanded that people from the Caucasus and Central Asia who break the law be expelled from Pugachyov. The audience responded by chanting, "Send them out!"
The chairman of the Saratov regional legislature, Vladimir Kapkayev, promised at the meeting that the regional authorities would take action against such offenders, but the audience was skeptical of his promise, and demands were raised to punish the town's mayor, blaming him for a situation that allegedly led to the July 6 incident.
Police did not interfere.
During the July 6 fight, the Chechen teenager inflicted fatal wounds with a scalpel on his adversary, who was a former paratrooper. The victim died in the hospital.