RUSSIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS CONCERNED OVER PERSECUTIONS AGAINST OPPOSITION IN YUGOSLAVIA








MOSCOW, MARCH 13. /RIA NOVOSTI'S CORRESPONDENT ARINA DOVGAN/ -- The State Duma is concerned over persecutions against the socialist party which is in opposition in Yugoslavia, said Nikolai Ryzhkov, chairman of the Duma commission for assisting Yugoslavia after the NATO aggression.


	Russian parliamentarians have an impression that people who assumed office in Yugoslavia during the 2000 September and December elections under the slogan of protection of democracy are now steering towards suppressing the opposition. 


	Pretext for this concern comes from the calls for extradition of ex-president Slobodan Milosevic to the international tribunal, while the tribunal takes no notice of the NATO crimes and those of Albanian thugs in Kosovo.


	In the opinion of the Duma deputy, the increased subversive activity of Albanian extremists is a proof that they instigated the Kosovo tragedy. Persecutions against Milosevic are an attempt to shift the blame from Albanian separatists to Serbs, believes Ryzhkov. (nov/nog)