Hate-crime suspect is ordered to trial

In a case that has galvanized debate over hate crimes, a Sacramento judge on Wednesday ordered a Slavic man to stand trial for his alleged role in a feud that killed Fijian immigrant Satender Singh last July.

Aleksandr Shevchenko, 22, will return to court on Dec. 19 to be arraigned on a felony count of intimidating and interfering with a person's rights – a hate crime – for his alleged involvement in the July 1 fracas with Singh at Lake Natoma.

Superior Court Judge John A. Mendez, who presided over a preliminary hearing, said there was enough evidence to try Shevchenko for the hate crime, a decision that gratified Singh's family and his supporters but angered members of the local Slavic community who feel the case has been exaggerated by politics.

"It's just basically 'hang the Russian,' " said "Word to Russia" radio broadcaster Michael Lokteff. "This young man is going to be sacrificed on the altar of political correctness.

"I just don't think that justice is going to be done."

Lokteff, who also has ties to the local Slavic pastors association, compared the judge's ruling to the courts that operated under communism, influenced by politics over the rule of law.

For months, the incident at Lake Natoma has captivated local activists as a symbol of the tensions between gays and some members of an evangelical Slavic movement that has endorsed hostile anti-gay rhetoric.

It has spurred discussions on hate crimes from legislators to local public safety officials, and at every court appearance for Shevchenko members of the Satender Justice Coalition and other advocates fill the seats wearing "Remember Satender" buttons.

"It's obviously going to be a long process," said Nathan Feldman of the cable access show "Being Gay Today."

"But the bigger issue is that people in the Russian community want him (Shevchenko) to get off, and people in the gay community want him tried. There's still a divide. They're missing the fact that someone got killed here."

Camie Bhuie, a relative who opened his home to Singh after he arrived in Sacramento from Fiji at age 19, said he remembers his loving and happy nephew whose life ended too soon in violence.

"We know that it was a hate crime," Bhuie said. "We have lost our nephew, and we expect that these people should be held accountable."

Singh died July 5, four days after he was punched at the park during an hourslong confrontation with a group identified in court as "the Russians." He fell backward and injured his head.

A Sacramento County coroner's report listed his cause of death as "blunt force injury of head" and classified the case as a homicide. There were no drugs in Singh's body, but the coroner found a 0.04 percent blood alcohol content.

A lead detective who testified at this week's hearing said Singh, 26, was singled out because he was seen acting affectionately and dancing with other men.

Kathryn Druliner, one of Shevchenko's defense attorneys, said Singh was dancing provocatively in a way that simulated homosexual sex about 200 yards from a Slavic family with small children.

She made references in court to a homemade videotape depicting Singh crudely gesturing, and she told The Bee earlier that if Singh had lived he probably would have been the defendant.

His group, she said, also engaged the Russians with name-calling and expletives.

But the language, the detective said, became explicitly homophobic and profane when a member of the Russian group demanded an apology from Singh's party for its behavior.

Witnesses at the park that day who did not know either of the groups told authorities that the Russians were the aggressors.

The detective said that Singh's group made it clear that they didn't want to fight.

"Dude, why are you bothering us?" a friend asked shortly before Singh was punched.

Shevchenko remains free on $25,000 bail as authorities continue to search for his friend, Andrey Vusik, the man accused of throwing the fatal punch.

Vusik was believed to have fled to Russia shortly after Singh's death.

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