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Moscow jury finds 7 men guilty of 20 race-hate murders

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MOSCOW, December 2 (RIA Novosti) - The Moscow City Court jury found seven young men guilty on Tuesday of killing at least 20 people and assaulting 12 others in racially motivated attacks, a court spokesperson said.

The court will gather again on Thursday to hear the sentences to be proposed by the prosecution, and the defense's case. The presiding judge will then fix a date for sentencing.

Spokeswoman Anna Usachyova said two other suspects in the case were acquitted by the jury due to lack of evidence, and released in the courtroom.

The gang committed the crimes between August 2006 and October 2007. Videos of the brutal attacks were posted on the Internet.

The jury said 17-year-old Artur Ryno and Pavel Skachevsky, who organized and led the group, did not deserve leniency, according to Usachyova. If convicted, they could face between eight and 20 years behind bars.

However, the jury deemed that the other five attackers should receive the minimum punishment.

Russia has seen a rise in race-hate crimes since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Routine attacks by gangs of youths on foreigners and non-whites are a regular occurrence in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as in the western Russian city of Voronezh, which hosts a number of foreign university students.

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