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Comments (0)Two political parties with anti-Semitic elements did well in Russian regional elections.
The Communist Party led by Gennady Zyuganov received as much as 25 percent of Sunday’s vote in some regional parliaments, and the Liberal-Democratic Party led by Vladimir Zhirinovsky took up to 19 percent in some precincts. Neither party had done as well since the mid-1990s.
United Russia, the party of President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, remained the dominant party.
Both the Communist and Liberal-Democratic parties include prominent members who have been publicly anti-Semitic.
In 2005, a group of Russian State Duma deputies from the Communist Party asked Russia’s attorney general to ban all Jewish organizations in Russia as “extremist.” The Liberal-Democratic Party represents the spectrum of Russian nationalist movements and is anti-Western in its orientation.
However, the election campaign was largely free of extremist slogans. Experts attributed the success of the opposition parties to a protest vote against the pro-Kremlin party, United Russia.
Voters in eight regions chose new regional parliaments, and regional and municipal elections were conducted in 76 of Russia’s 83 regions.
Court: Swedish Man can be Deported to Poland
A Swedish court ruled that the man accused of organizing the theft of the “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign from the front gate of Auschwitz can be extradited to Poland.
Anders Hogstrom, a former Swedish neo-Nazi, can be handed over to Polish authorities, the court ruled Thursday.
Hogstrom is suspected of ordering five Polish men to steal the metal sign. He reportedly acted as an agent for a British Nazi sympathizer who wanted it.
Hogstrom can appeal the decision within three weeks. If his appeal is rejected, he will be deported within 10 days.
Three of the men who allegedly cut up and stole the sign reportedly confessed to the crime earlier this week. They are facing prison terms of up to three years, the Krakow Post reported Tuesday, citing the Prosecutor’s Office in Krakow.
The 16-foot metal sign, which means “work makes you free,” was cut into three pieces and stolen on Dec. 18; it was recovered across the country 72 hours later.
Experts are working to restore the sign. It is not certain that the sign will be returned to its place; a copy that was placed at the front gate immediately after the theft remains there.
Some 1.1 million people, including about 1 million Jews, were murdered at Auschwitz.
Egypt Captures Israeli Journalist Infiltrating Border
An Israeli journalist who tried to infiltrate the Egyptian border with illegal migrants was arrested and may be tried in a military court.
Yotam Feldman, a reporter for Haaretz and several other publications, was working on assignment for Israel’s Channel 10 reporting on African migrants infiltrating into Israel. The migrants and Bedouin guides with whom he was attempting to infiltrate managed to escape, according to reports.
Feldman had no identification papers or money when he was captured; he was carrying a video camera. He injured his hand on a barbed-wire fence at the border, according to reports.
He reportedly had entered Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula legally. Haaretz said in a statement released Monday that Feldman had requested an unpaid 10-day leave to work on an outside project.
The Israeli military is attempting to secure Feldman’s release, Haaretz reported.
Egyptian security officers have killed nine migrants this year attempting to infiltrate the border. Israel has pressured Egypt to halt the flow of migrants.