Skinhead Expert Shot Dead in St. Pete

Nikolai Girenko A prominent expert on ethnic and racial issues was shot dead in his St. Petersburg apartment over the weekend in an attack that his colleagues and human rights advocates believe was carried out by extremists. Nikolai Girenko, 64, was killed when he went to answer the doorbell in his apartment at about 9 a.m. Saturday, investigators said Monday. The killer fired a rifle at him through the closed door. Minutes before the attack, neighbors saw two suspicious-looking men on the staircase of Girenko's apartment building, investigators said. No suspects had been detained as of Monday. Deputy St. Petersburg Prosecutor Andrei Zhukov said investigators believe Girenko was killed because of his work as a researcher and expert witness in a number of trials involving extremism. Girenko assisted the City Prosecutor's Office in several high-profile court cases, including the 2002 murder of Azeri watermelon vendor Mamed Mamedov and an ongoing investigation of a local skinhead group known as Schultz-88. Siehe auch: Russia's far right blamed for murder of anti-fascist, Russian Federation: Brutal killing of human rights defender Nikolai Girenko, Russian anti-racism academic murdered. Chairman of minority rights committee shot on his doorstep , Russia’s top minorities-issues expert gunned down in St. Petersburg, ai: Russian Federation: Brutal killing of human rights defender Nikolai Girenko, Russischer Rassismus-Experte ermordet, Rassismus-Experte von Neonazis ermordet?