On the one hand, Moscow's mayor Yuri Luzhkov publicly condemns xenophobia and last week called for harsher laws against hate speech and hate crimes, saying on April 15 that: "The government must ensure the tranquility of all people regardless of the color of their skin... Xenophobia is a disease that may eventually endanger this country. The main reason for such crimes is the absence of a real punishment." At the same time, his subordinates running the city's law enforcement agencies impudently contradict him and President Putin by denying that racist violence is a problem. And this Saturday, 400 far-right nationalists rallied in Moscow, calling for the murder of various government officials, praising terrorist methods, and demonizing Jews, all while police looked passively on. The same police who routinely use violence and intimidation to disrupt peaceful opposition protests apparently see nothing wrong with blatant violations of Russia's laws on extremism, calls for overthrowing the government, and hate speech, as long as its the far-right who is breaking the law.

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