About 50 teenagers suspected of being related to “Ryodan” were arrested in Tashkent 

Yesterday, 5 March, about 50 young people gathered near the building of the Palace of International Forums located on Istiqlal Street, Yashnabad District, Tashkent.

They had come up with different slogans about joining a subculture like “Ryodan”  This was announced by the press secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Shahrukh Ghiyosov.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, until now, the internal affairs authorities have received various information that the organizers of this movement are subversive forces located outside the country, and their goal is to promote national, racial, ethnic and religious enmity, as well as riots and violence.

Based on this, the Tashkent City Department of Internal Affairs warned citizens against the danger of being influenced by of destructive slogans and strangers on social networks.

“On 5 March this year, in order to prevent violations to public order, preventive measures were held by the Tashkent IIBB, and parents and participants of the incident were interviewed,” the report says.

It is noted that the proof that these young people have been negatively influenced can be seen by the appeals and behaviour of the participants in the movement:

“Hello, today at 18:00 p.m. we will crash the entire forum.  We are armed to the teeth with pneumatic, cold and combat weapons.”

Also, videos of anonymous users were posted on social networks which aimed to discredit the actions of law enforcement agencies.

“We remind parents to pay attention to their child’s pastimes,” the ministry said in a statement.

For reference, when the “Ryodan” movement was originally formed, it consisted of several virtual communities on the internet: these were fans of Japanese animation art and had no other goals than to unite teenagers by their interests.  Children would discuss their favorite art and chose similar clothes (checkered pants and t-shirts with a picture of a spider and the number 4 on the back).

However, over time, the movement went in a different, more sinister direction, and a number of aggressive individuals appeared among them.  They aimed to create chaoos in the region and control the youth by influencing them with their skewed worldview.  As a result, children who took heed of the destructive rhetoric of strangers on the network, gathered in public places and started organizing public disturbances.

Currently, such cases organized by the “Ryodan” movement have been recorded in the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus and a number of other countries.

Quarrels lead to various degrees of physical injuries to the parties, damage to the property of individuals, initiation of many administrative and criminal cases.  Such consequences can and should be avoided.