Russia - Court Rules to Telease South Russia Synagogue Attacker From Care

Russia - A court in Russia's southern Rostov Region ruled to release an 18-year-old from a psychiatric hospital where he had been sent for treatment after attacking a synagogue.

Vadim Domnitsky was tried in January after he burst into a synagogue, brandishing a broken bottle and shouting anti-Semitic slogans. In June he was convicted of making death threats, but acquitted on hooliganism charges due to a lack of evidence.
"The case against Domnitsky was closed because of the low significance of the act," Domnitsky's lawyer said. "The ruling on compulsory medical treatment has also been canceled. He will be discharged from custody within 24 hours."

However, Igor Tkachev said he would nevertheless appeal the court's ruling because it recognized a crime had been committed, albeit not a felony. "We believe there was no crime and we are unhappy with this part of the court's decision," he said. "We intend to appeal the ruling and press for the case to be closed due to a lack of corpus delicti," he said.

The day before Domnitsky entered the Rostov synagogue, Muscovite Alexander Koptsev, 21, attacked a synagogue in the capital, stabbing nine people. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison for the attempted murder of nine people but the Supreme Court later overturned the ruling and sent the case for retrial, though it remanded the defendant in custody.