May 22, 2007 - 14:51 AMT
Alleged suspects detained in Stavropol Territory for desecrating Armenian graves
For about 40 Armenian graves have been desecrated in Krasnokumsk village of Georgievsk district, Stavropol Territory in the night of May 21. The graves were covered with paints and swastika signs, the Police Department of Stavropol Territory reported. The crime has characteristics of Article 244 of the Russian Penal Code (outrage upon bodies of dead and their burial places).

Four suspects have been detained for participating in this crime: an 18-year-old resident of Georgievsk and his three associates. The low enforcement bodies have already established their identities. Currently they give testimonies, IA Regnum reports.

This is not the first similar crime committed in Stavropol Territory. More than 50 graves, including Armenian were desecrated by vandals in a cemetery near Georgievsk December 17, 2005. 14 more Armenian graves suffered in the cemetery of a village in Nadezhda Shpakovskaya district December 6, 2005. Then malefactors poured acid over marble stones, broke grave plates and put out eyes on photos of dead.