Activist 'stabbed with syringe'

2008-11-15 23:09

Moscow - A French human rights activist said on Saturday she had been attacked by two young men in a Moscow café who stabbed her with a syringe.

"The syringe is with the police for expert examination," Carine Clement, a sociologist who works on behalf of migrants and campaigns againt Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov and right wing movements, told a meeting of leftwing associations and intellectuals.

She said the attack, which took place on Thursday, was the third in the space of two weeks and part of an "intimidation" operation aimed at forcing her to stop her activities.

Clement has lived in Russia since 1994 and in 2004 founded an institute for collective action.

She said on October 24, on the eve of a demonstration calling for Luzhkov to resign, she had been hit in the face and her bag had been stolen.

Incidents 'linked'

On Wednesday a young man had followed her, insulted her and jostled her on her way to work.

"One thing I am sure of, is that these incidents are all linked," she said.

"I think a lot of people would be happy if I stopped my militant activities and went back to France."

Among these were "fascists" and "organised crime in the building sector".

She said that in recent months she had observed a "revival of criminal methods" to get rid of rights militants.

On Friday a Russian journalist working for a local paper was beaten up in a Moscow suburb.

He had attacked the local authorities for destroying forests in the region, had been threatened repeatedly and assaulted in the spring of 2007.

- AFP