Extremist Russian weekly shut down

December 2, 2008

MOSCOW (JTA) -- A judge in Moscow ordered an extremist weekly newspaper with an anti-Semitic past to stop publishing.

The court also revoked the Duel's license this week, according to the court's Web site. It ruled that an article published in the newspaper on July 4, 2006, was extremist.

The article, which also included anti-Semitic slurs, declared "Death to Russia," describing the country as a state ruled by "kikes" bent on domination, according to reports from the Union of Council for Jews in the Former Soviet Union.

The paper presents itself as a player in the "battle of social ideas." Its editors received a written warning in April 2007 from the Russian government agency monitoring mass media. The shutdown relied upon that written warning as justification.

The ruling overturns a decision in February by the Moscow City Court to let the paper remain open.

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