Russia holds anti-racism rally
2006-04-11 13:40
St Petersburg - Russia's pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi held an anti-racism rally in Saint Petersburg on Tuesday following the murder of a Senegalese student, the latest in a series of murders of people of African origin in the city.
Senegalese student Samba Lampsar Sall was gunned down outside a nightclub on Friday, by a man whose gun was decorated with a swastika.
The recent spate of killings of ethnic minorities in Saint Petersburg threatens to embarrass the Russian authorities as they prepare for a summit of leaders of the G8 (Group of Eight) nations in the city in July.
On Monday, Russian police said they had arrested a 28-year-old man in connection with Sall's murder.
Russian prosecutors said the killing was motivated by nationalist-racial hatred.
The country's Kommersant newspaper reports that the arrested man is the son of a former police officer.
Saint Petersburg has had a small African presence since its founding in the early 18th century.