Moscow prosecutors suspended the activity of the Movement Against Illegal Immigration, one of the country's most prominent nationalist groups, and requested the Moscow City Court to ban it as extremist, Interfax said Wednesday.
The prosecutor did not elaborate on the reasons for extremism allegations. No date for hearing was announced.
The group, known by its Russian acronym DPNI, was behind the annual Russian March rallies, many of which ended in police crackdowns.
The group's co-founder and ex-leader, Alexander Belov, said the ban will only boost radicalization of the nationalist movement because it will lose its political wing.
He added that the ban is likely an attempt by law enforcement agencies to show off their anti-extremism work after the violent nationalist riots that took place on the downtown Manezh Square in December.
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