MOSCOW, March 20 (RIA Novosti) - Lawyers for the victims of an attack on a Moscow synagogue have demanded the maximum prison term for the alleged attacker and criticized law enforcement for failing to curb xenophobia and religious intolerance, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported from the courtroom.
Speaking about defendant Alexander Koptsev, 20, who stabbed 10 people in a synagogue in central Moscow on January 11 and who doctors say suffers from schizophrenia, attorney Vadim Klyuvgant said: "His inhumane world outlook reveals his immorality and has nothing to do with psychiatry."
Klyuvgant, representing seven victims of the highly publicized attack, said the Prosecutor General's Office, Interior Ministry, Justice Ministry, and Federal Security Service (FSB) should step up efforts to stop the spread of ethnically and religiously-motivated violence, and demanded a severe punishment for Koptsev.
The demand was backed by another lawyer, Vitaly Khavkin, who said the verdict should be severe to draw society's attention to the problems of chauvinism, xenophobia, and ethnic intolerance.
The lawyers also said their clients were not seeking compensation as they did not measure moral damages or their humiliation in terms of money.
Koptsev is standing trial on charges of the attempted murder of two or more people for ethnic or religious reasons and committing acts designed to denigrate a group of people based on their religious or ethnic background. He faces up to 20 years in jail.
State Prosecutor Kira Gudim said in hearings earlier Monday that Koptsev should be sentenced to 16 years in a strict-regime prison camp and be forced to undergo psychiatric treatment there.
Gudim said the attack had only lasted about three minutes but had triggered broad public debate and encouraged the spread of ethnic hatred.
"Koptsev became a hero for rogues like himself," she said, adding that this had been his goal.
She also claimed Koptsev's choice of weapon was not an accident and called the attack brutal, humiliating, and cynical.
Noting that his knife was inscribed with the phrase "Have a good hunt!" Gudim said: "Koptsev went on the hunt in the true sense of the word, a hunt for people of a different religion."
"Whether Russian and foreign citizens feel safe in Russia is contingent on the judges' treatment of Koptsev's case," the prosecutor said.
The suspect's lawyers called for the restraint of emotions.
"I believe Koptsev's illness and his suicidal tendencies have to be taken into account while deciding the verdict," Vladimir Kirsanov said.
Kirsanov also said Koptsev had not intended to kill and should have been facing charges of inflicting heavy bodily injuries.
Nelli Arkhipova, another of Koptsev's lawyers, said her client could not be accused of inciting ethnically or religiously-motivated hatred since he had failed to explain why he had carried out the attack. "Can a man with psychiatric disorders have a specific plan?" she asked.
On February 28, Koptsev pleaded not guilty on grounds that the Criminal Code had been written by Jews and the Jewish mafia. Prosecutors said he had thereby partially admitted his guilt.
The suspect is expected to deliver his last statement March 22, after which the judges will recess to determine the verdict.
