MINSK, February 18 - RAPSI. The Belarusian Investigative Committee has initiated a criminal case against radical right-wing activist Maxim Martsinkevich, who has already spent 3,5 years in prison in Russia for inciting hatred, the committee told RIA Novosti on Monday.

The investigators have initiated a case against Martsinkevich, who is also known as "Tesak" (Cutter), and two Belarusians for hooliganism.

The three men used a minor pretext to engage in a fight and severely injured a Belarusian citizen, he said. An unofficial version suggests that they were fighting Belarusian antifascists. All three suspects have been placed in detention, the investigators added.

Media reports describe Martsinkevich as a right-wing skinhead activist, former leader of the Format18 group which was best known for uploading extremely violent propaganda films to their website.

His criminal record includes two cases of crimes based on ethnic and religious hatred.