Press release, 28.01.2016
On 27 January, the Committee against Xenophobia and Nationalism conducted its first meeting this year in the office of Moscow Helsinki Group. Galina Mikhaleva, coordinator of the Committee and First Deputy Chair of the Moscow branch of YABLOKO, moderated the meeting. The meeting was also attended by other coordinaors Usman Baratov (the Uzbek community) and Vadim Karastelyev (Moscow Helsinki Group), representatives of the Moscow Antifascist Committee, Moscow committee of Civil diplomacy and civil activits.

The Committee summed up the results of 2015. Galina Mikhaleva noted that the disadvantage was the constant denial of the authorities to conduct mass street actions. Usman Baratov stressed that the Committee remained the platform for a dialogue between different organisations and new members joined it. The Committee discussed the causes and consequences of the sexual assults in Germany and condemned the statements of Ramzan Kadyrov, head of Chechnya, towards the opposition.

As for the plans for 2016, the Committee will develop the topic of Stalin’s deportation of the Soviet peoples and will conduct a number of round tables with representatives of different national communities and religions. They also plan to hold a conference dedicated to the two years anniversary of the events in Ukraine where the eyewitnesses and journalists will be invited.

The next meeting of the Committee will take place on 17 February.