Medvedev seeks crackdown on ethnic bias

UFA, Russia, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- People who incite ethnic hatred must be barred from teaching, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Friday.

Speaking in Ufa, capital of the autonomous republic of Bashkortostan, Medvedev said he would introduce legislation to impose the ban, RIA Novosti reported. "They must not teach children or youth at all," he said.

Ethnic tensions boiled over in December when a Moscow soccer fan was shot to death in a brawl with migrants the North Caucasus. The killing set off clashes across Russia, including a battle between thousands of nationalists and police outside the Kremlin walls.

Medvedev also ordered an investigation of discrimination in government employment.

"It is no secret that there are restrictions to certain nationalities during the formation of administrative organs in some republics and individual regions," he said, and that "lopsidedness should be eradicated."