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Man With Ax Threatens Judge in Pussy Riot Case

The Tagansky Court building, where a man with an axe threatened a judge Monday.

A man wielding an ax on Monday threatened a Moscow judge whose cases include that involving the controversial jailing of members of all-female punk band Pussy Riot.

The man asked people standing near the office of Yelena Ivanova in the Tagansky Court building where he could submit a court petition, Gazeta.ru reported, citing a correspondent for the news site who was in the courthouse at the time of the incident.

Having not received an answer to his query, he entered Ivanova's office. After some time, screams for help sounded from inside, and bailiffs went in. They came out with the man, who was in handcuffs and holding an ax.

"At first, he behaved decently," a witness told Life News.

Responding to questions from witnesses about what had happened, the bailiffs replied that the man had threatened the judge with an ax.

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