Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called for harsher punishment of those charged with extremism.
Speaking during a visit to a police station in south Moscow, Medvedev said "a tightening of responsibility should be considered in some situations.”
“I never proposed changing the penalties for these crimes,” the president said. “However, I do not think this is a sphere where it is necessary to display humanism.”
In Russian law, extremism is very broadly defined to include anything from racist violence to attempting to subvert state power.
