MOSCOW, Nov 2 (Reuters) - A Russian court on Friday handed down suspended sentences to 12 rioters for attacking property and driving ethnic Chechens from a northwestern town, Russian news agencies reported. The men were found guilty of rioting last September in Kondopoga, near the Finnish border, and handed three-year suspended sentences with probation periods of two to three years. "The defendants took part in riots, arson and the destruction of private property. All of them are young, with no prior ties to criminal activity," said the local prosecutor in court, quoted by the Interfax news agency. In September last year scores of Chechens, who are members of the Russian Federation, fled Kondopoga after around 2,000 Russian rioters avenged two murders by attacking businesses, homes and cars owned by people from the Caucasus. Rioters ripped market stalls apart, stoned homes, and burned and looted the Azeri restaurant where the two Russians were killed in a fight over an unpaid bill. Most racist attacks in Russia target people with non-Slav features and dark complexions. Dozens of foreign workers and students have been killed or wounded.
