By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A St. Petersburg federal court on Friday sentenced a neo-Nazi activist to six years in prison for instigating ethnic and racial strife, sedition and other charges, Russian news reports said.
The Leninsky federal court dropped similar charges against another man and gave suspended sentences to three minors, ITAR-Tass and NTV television reported.
Prosecutors said Dmitry Bobrov was the founder of the group "Schultz 88," which openly espoused Nazi ideals and harassed and attacked foreigners in St. Petersburg and elsewhere.
Russia has seen a rise in recent years in the number of racist attacks on foreigners, in particular dark-skinned immigrants from former Soviet Central Asia and the Caucasus.
Rights activists say hate groups are becoming increasingly bold, driven by the influx of illegal immigrants to Russia and authorities' mild approach to prosecuting hate crimes.