This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
A court in Ufa, the capital of Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan, has sentenced eight men to up to 14 days in jail for taking part in an unprecedented rally earlier this week to support the former leader of the banned Bashqort movement, Fail Alsynov, who has criticized Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine.
The Kirov district court on January 18 sentenced activists Salavat Idelbayev and Rustam Yuldashev to 14 and 13 days in jail, respectively, after finding them guilty of taking part in “an unsanctioned rally that led to the disruption of infrastructure activities and obstructed the work of a court” on January 15.
A day earlier, the same court sentenced Ilnar Galin to 13 days in jail, and Denis Skvortsov, Fanzil Akhmetshin, Yulai Aralbayev, Radmir Mukhametshin, and Dmitry Petrov to 10 days in jail each on the same charges.
The sentences were related to a January 15 rally of around 5,000 people in front of a court in the town of Baimak, where the verdict and sentencing of Alsynov, who was charged with inciting ethnic hatred, were expected to be announced. But the court postponed the announcement to January 17 to allow security forces to prepare for any reaction to the verdict in the controversial trial.
On January 17, thousands of supporters gathered in front of the court again, and after Alsynov was sentenced to four years in prison, clashes broke out as police using batons, tear gas, and stun grenades forced the protesters to leave the site. Several protesters were injured and at least two were hospitalized.
Dozens of protesters were detained and the Investigative Committee said those in custody from the January 17 unrest will face criminal charges — organizing and participating in mass disorder and using violence against law enforcement.
Separately on January 18, police detained two young men in Baimak on unspecified charges. Friends of the men said the detentions were most likely linked to the rallies to support Alsynov.
The head of Bashkortostan, Radiy Khabirov, made his first statement on January 18 about the largest protest rally in Russia since Moscow launched its ongoing invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, saying he “will not tolerate extremism and attempts to shake up the situation,” and promising to find the “real organizers” of the rallies.
It was Khabirov who initiated the investigation of Alsynov, accusing him of inciting ethnic hatred as well as calling for anti-government rallies and extremist activities and discrediting Russia’s armed forces.
In the end, Alsynov was charged only with inciting hatred, which stemmed from a speech he gave at a rally in late April 2023 in the village of Ishmurzino in which he criticized local government plans to start mining gold near the village, as it would bring in migrant laborers.
Investigators said Alsynov’s speech “negatively assessed people in the Caucasus and Central Asia, humiliating their human dignity.” Alsynov and his supporters have rejected the charge as politically motivated.
Bashkortostan’s Supreme Court banned Alsynov’s Bashqort group, which for years promoted Bashkir language, culture, and equal rights for ethnic Bashkirs, in May 2020, declaring it extremist.
Bashqort was banned after staging several rallies and other events challenging the policies of both local and federal authorities, including Moscow’s move to abolish mandatory indigenous-language classes in the regions with large populations of indigenous ethnic groups.
