A Moscow court on Monday sentenced 12 neo-Nazis to prison terms of 10 years to life in connection with 27 hate killings and attempted murder and attempting to organize a terrorist attack.
The 11 men and one woman were members of the National Socialist Society, a group banned by the Supreme Court in February 2010 as extremist, and they used the Internet to plot attacks on people of non-Slavic appearance, antifascists and even members of the National Socialist Society suspected of working in the government, Interfax reported.
The court sentenced seven defendants to life and the other five to prison terms of 10 to 23 years. A 13th defendant got a suspended eight-year sentence.
The defendants, aged 20 to 30, used hammers, knifes and other weapons to kill their targets in 2007 and 2008, news reports said.
Four of the defendants denied the charges, including the group's purported leader, Leo Molotkov, whom the court declared guilty of staging an explosion at a train station.
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