In response to the St. Petersburg Court verdict which found the 17 young men charged with murdering a Vietnamese student not guilty, the first Deputy Chief of the Russian Duma Security Committee, Mikhail Grishankov, told Itar-Tass that Duma strongly disagreed with the verdict.
“It is an illogical and inexplicable verdict. It has raised too many questions and the prosecutors must appeal it,” Mikhail Grishankov said.
“There is a currently dangerous trend increasing by which juries do not recognize the racial and religious discrimination behind criminal acts,” he added.
Moscow human rights activists warned that a decision like this could quickly lead to an
increase in crimes committed against foreigners in Russia.
“The release of the killers will encourage the anti-immigration and racial discrimination wave of neo-fascists in Russia”, said a representative from the Human Rights center Sova, Ms. Galina Kozhevnikova.
The St. Petersburg prosecutor’s office informed Itar-Tass of their plan to appeal to a higher court.
The family of Vu Anh Tuan must make their voice heard as well. His mother said that they are incredibly disappointed and will appeal the decision as well as “send a letter to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, of Education and the Russian Embassy in Hanoi asking them all to raise their voice for justice and the safety of foreign students in Russia.”
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