A 24-year-old Israeli suspected of leading a neo-Nazi group in Petach TIkva was detained at Ben-Gurion Airport Monday.
Dmitri Bogotich, who is believed to have led his friends in perpetrating a series of vandalistic acts and attacks against various minorities in Petach Tikva and Tel Aviv, fled Israel in 2007.
On Israel's request, an international arrest warrant was issued against Bogotich, who apparently fled to Russia before being expelled to Kirgizstan. In recent days he was arrested while traveling in the country and handed over to Israel.
Israeli police officers accompanied Bogotich on his flight to Israel and detained him upon landing in the country, proceeding to handcuff and chain him. He was later taken for an interrogation about his role in the neo-Nazi gang; eight of its members have already been convicted and are serving their sentences
Following the arrest, the commander of Israel's Central Police District, Bentzi Sau, said that "the Israel Police will reach anywhere in the world in order to nab the criminals. The citizens have someone they can count on, and the criminals have something to fear."
The affair first came to light in September 2007, after police detained eight youngsters aged 16 to 21 on suspicion of assaulting various individuals, and mostly drug addicts, homosexuals, religious Jews, punks, and foreign workers. The gang sought out its victims near Tel Aviv's central bus station and Carmel market.
Y Net News
