Human rights defender, Mr Maxim Efimov, was assaulted by an unknown assailant in his home in Karelia on 31 July 2009. Maxim Efimov is the chairperson of the Karelia office of Youth Human Rights Group and the editor of the antifascist human rights newspaper, /Chas Nol/ (Hour zero), and of the booklet, Essays on contemporary racism.

Further Information

On 31 July 2009, at approximately 9:00 a.m., an unknown man called to Maxim Efimov's apartment and said that a letter addressed to Efimov had been delivered to him by mistake.

Maxim Efimov opened the door to his apartment and allowed the man into his home. The man, who was about 30 years old, then tried to stab Efimov's eyes with a sharp object. Efimov sustained injuries around his eyes before the assailant escaped. Following the attack Maxim Efimov contacted the police who have opened a criminal case concerning the attack.

The letter delivered by the assailant was addressed to Mr Dmitry Tsvibel, chairperson of the local Jewish community, and contained two blank sheets of paper. Prior to the attack, Maxim Efimov was called a “racial Jew who hates Russian people'' on an internet blog.

Front Line has learnt from Youth Human Rights Group that Maxim Efimov has been working with the Jewish community for almost ten years and had continuously denounced anti-Semitism in the Karelia region.

Front Line believes that the attack against Maxim Efimov is linked to his peaceful work denouncing and combating anti-Semitism and racism in Russian society. Front Line is deeply concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Maxim Efimov.