PROSECUTOR: MOSCOW MAFIA IS RUSSIAN.

Russia’s Deputy Procurator General Oleg Gaidanov told Chelovek i zakon (no. 4) that Russians, not Caucasians, form the core of the mafia in Moscow. While there are some Caucasians involved, it is wrong to focus on them or to assume that expelling Caucasians as such–as Russian authorities did in October 1993–would solve the problem. There are now more people from the Caucasus in Moscow than there were a year ago but they are not necessarily criminals, Gaidanov noted. He called for a surgical approach to dealing with criminals from other regions, pointing out that “the method of mass round-ups has never produced positive results.”

Grachev: Army Should Become Arms Merchant.