MOSCOW, January 12 (RIA Novosti) - A 20-year-old man arrested after a knife attack on a synagogue in central Moscow may have acted under the influence of anti-Semitic literature and a violent computer game, a leading Russian newspaper reported Thursday.
According to Kommersant, prosecutors said Alexander Koptsev's decision to enter the synagogue on Wednesday evening and stab eight people was guided by racial hatred, but his parents insisted he was a timid and mentally and physically challenged boy who had no interest whatsoever in either politics or religion.
The events unfolded after Koptsev is said to have passed through metal detectors and security guards in the synagogue on Bolshaya Bronnaya Street at about 5.30 p.m. Moscow time (2.30 p.m. GMT). According to the paper, witnesses say he produced a hunting knife from the inside pocket of his coat and began stabbing worshippers attending evening prayers.
Contrary to earlier reports, the daily said Koptsev carried out the attack in silence, and people could only understand what was happening when several of them fell down with blood on their necks and backs. When panic spread, the attacker wiped off the knife and headed for the exit, where he stabbed the rabbi's son-in-law, Michael Mishulovich, in the stomach.
Eventually he was caught and his hands were tied with a belt. Koptsev suffered an injury with his own knife in the scuffle, the paper said.
A few hours after the incident, Moscow Prosecutor Anatoly Zuyev said charges of attempted murders based on ethnic or religious hatred and intentional denigration of honor and dignity of a group of persons had been brought against the attacker. Zuyev said the attacker had shouted words that had exposed his anti-Semitic sentiments. Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov said he had taken the investigation under his personal control and ordered its completion as soon as possible.
Kommersant said Jewish public organizations had joined in the chorus of anti-Semitism-related accusations. Russian Chief Rabbi Berl Lazar said Wednesday he would cut his private visit to Jerusalem short and return to Moscow.
"Russia is growing increasingly afflicted by the 'brown plague,'" Lazar said referring to neo-Nazi activity, and urged the government to take prompt.
Borukh Gorin, a member of the Federation of Russia's Jewish Communities, was less circumspect, saying the attack was "the logical result of the authorities and the public's reluctance to counter the rising tide of fascist sentiments in the country."
However, Alexander Koptsev Sr., a driver, provided the paper with a different account of the events. He said on that day his son had been at home playing Postal, a violent computer game featuring an English postman who suddenly goes mad, takes to the street with a knife and starts stabbing passers-by.
The suspect's father told Kommersant that his son had unexpectedly received a phone call and left, saying he was going for a walk.
His father also said Koptsev Jr. had never been a member of any radical organization, either religious or nationalistic. "I believe he could only see those nationalists, skinheads, and other radicals on TV," he told the newspaper.
He said Alexander had been reserved and quiet when he was growing up, and had few friends. He never smoked or drank alcohol, and was blind in one eye, which meant he could not be drafted into the army. Moreover, he had suffered a psychological shock when his sister died of cancer last year, his father added.
Koptsev Snr. told the paper that his son had completed his studies at a college, but had been unable to find a steady job since then, although he did work occasionally.
However, he admitted that he had been surprised to see a book on his son's desk some time ago. When he enquired about the book, his son said it was about Jews who had "sold out Russia."
