Web site closed for offering Hitler book

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, July 13 (UPI) -- The founder of a Web site for Russian history scholars says authorities closed his site for offering downloads of Adolf Hitler's book "Mein Kampf."

Moscow State University history graduate Vyacheslav Rumyantsev told Monday's Moscow Times St. Petersburg police ordered his Internet service provider to block access to Hronos.info after saying the presence of Hitler's 1920s treatise and memoir violated laws against fomenting extremism.

Rumyantsev told the newspaper he wasn't aware that "Mein Kampf" was on a list of books banned in Russia under a law meant to counter extremist activities, saying, "The site posts historical sources so that people can read them and get to know the past," adding he had posted only an "outline" of the first part of the book.

The Times said the closure of Hronos.info appeared to be a case of selective justice, because dozens of other Web sites available in Russia also offer downloads of "Mein Kampf," including one called XXII-vek.info, which offers viewers the option of ordering a paper version.

Another Web site reportedly lists the book as a download and claims that 1,984 people have done so.