Moscow synagogue attacker jailed

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A Russian man has been jailed for 16 years after a retrial for stabbing nine worshippers in a Moscow synagogue.

The Moscow city court also ordered Alexander Koptsev, 21, to undergo a treatment for a mental disorder.

Koptsev was originally jailed for 13 years in March after he was found guilty of racially-motivated attempted murder in the January attack.

But the Supreme Court overturned the conviction in June after appeals by both prosecutors and defence lawyers.

Russia has recently seen an upsurge in racist assaults.

Koptsev's swift prosecution and the lengthy jail sentence are meant to signal that so-called "hate crimes" will not be tolerated in Russia, the BBC's Jonathan Charles in Moscow says.

Apology

The Moscow city court on Friday also ruled that Koptsev was guilty of fomenting ethnic hatred - the charge that had been dropped in the previous conviction.

Anger and hatred clouded my mind, and I did not quite understand what I was doing Alexander Koptsev

In his final statement before the verdict was issued, Koptsev apologised to his victims.

"Anger and hatred clouded my mind, and I did not quite understand what I was doing," he said.

In June, the Supreme Court said Koptsev's case must be re-examined after appeals both from prosecutors and the defence team.

Prosecutors had demanded a longer prison sentence, while defence lawyers had argued that their client was mentally unstable.

Koptsev now must undergo a forced psychiatric treatment in a high-security prison, the court said.

Koptsev ran amok with a knife at the synagogue on 11 January.

After bursting into the building he lashed out at random before being wrestled to the ground.