MOSCOW. Oct 23 (Interfax) - Dmitry Dyomushkin, one of the leaders of the nationalistic group Russkiye (Russians), believes that, by opening his criminal prosecution, the authorities are trying to prevent the organization of the so-called Russian March on People's Unity Day on November 4.
"This is an attempt to intimidate our supporters and disrupt the Russian March. But this will only radicalize them, and our action will be held in any case," Dyomushkin told Interfax on Saturday.
"I will not take my words back. We will hold the Russian March under the motto 'For assigning state-forming status to the Russian people in Russia'," he said.
Dyomushkin said the investigative authorities did not inform him about his prosecution. "I have not been notified in any way. Nobody has called me either from the Investigative Committee or from the prosecutor's office," he said.
"The opposition field is being mopped up in the run-up to the elections. This is what is happening," he said.
The Investigative Committee said in a statement on its website earlier on Saturday that a criminal investigation had been opened against Dyomushkin on charges of the incitement to hatred and enmity.
The investigation is of the view that, in a recent interview with a news agency, Dyomushkin called for unrest and expressed ideas suggesting the Russian nation's superiority to others.