By: (AP) A Moscow court ordered a newspaper linked to jailed nationalist writer Eduard Limonov to close because of charges it incited ethnic conflict and called for the violent overthrow of the government, officials said Monday.
The decision Friday to close the newspaper
Limonka -- whose name is slang for hand grenade -- was made in response to a lawsuit filed by the Media Ministry, ministry spokesman Valery Losin said. He said the paper had 10 days to appeal.
Earlier this month, a court ruled in favor of the Media Ministry in a suit against another nationalist newspaper,
Russkiye Vedomosti, for targeting Jews and other minorities. It was the first time a newspaper was closed for making nationalist statements.
Limonov went on trial this month in the southern city of Saratov on charges of attempting to acquire weapons, preparing for terrorist acts, and calling for the overthrow of the government.
Some observers say that Limonov, whose National Bolshevik Party is relatively intellectual and rarely known to engage in direct violence, has become a scapegoat as Russian authorities try to show they are cracking down on extremists in the face of frequent racist attacks and expressions of anti-Semitism.
On Sunday, a homemade explosive device planted in a metal pipe bearing an anti-Semitic slogan exploded in a Moscow residential area Sunday morning. Nobody was injured.
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