The problem of mass media presentation of ethnic crime has become particularly acute in Russia this summer, after the scandalous incident with the attack on a police officer at the Matveyevsky market, followed by a massive sweep of Moscow markets for illegal migrants. Foreign and domestic media coverage has come up as a separate issue in this regard.
For example, the Guardian newspaper, recalling another scandal of this summer in Pugachev, when, after the killing of a paratrooper a wave of protests against immigrants swept the town, said that ethnic tensions in Russia had increased sharply, since "a large-scale offensive against illegal migrants, both internal and foreign, is on the way." As if confirming the findings of the British newspaper, the Moscow police conducted a special operation in the "Sadovod" market, during which more than a thousand people were arrested. According to media reports, 200 of them have already been brought to administrative liability for violation of immigration legislation.
An expert of the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights, director of the Legal Information Agency "Man and Law" Boris Panteleyev commented on the situation. He believes the issue of ethnic and migrant crimes today is extremely debatable and controversial. "We have discussed it several times at the Public Board of Internal Affairs and Internal Affairs of Moscow and all the time different numbers came up. Sometimes they were just shocking. For example, last year it was said that 50% of violent crimes are committed by migrants in Moscow. Later, it turns out, these figures do not exceed 30%, and they include migrants and residents of Russia who came to Moscow to work from other regions of the Russian Federation. These are not foreign countries, they are our citizens, but they are counted as migrants. So every time we need to treat separate cases individually. I would generally be reluctant to operate with these overall figures," the expert said.
"The role of the public is very big, when, say, the police are planning an event, it is sometimes important for them to consult with community councils, what repercussions there could be. We have experts on inter-ethnic relations, on the issue of combating discrimination in Russia, thank God, they are prepared, but the officials often do not listen to them before taking responsible decisions," the expert said.
