A case was opened against activist Ilyas Bayguskarov from Ufa for “mass riots” in Baymak during a gathering in support of Fail Alsynov. Baiguskarov’s wife reported this on Instagram stories. Information about the case was confirmed to Mediazona by Ilyas’s brother.
“Ilyas is accused of participating in the riots, which Peskov commented not as riots, but as “individual manifestations.” I wonder how the article about the riots could be applied if it was not even a protest, but simply support for a public figure. There were a lot of provocateurs in Baymak,” Bayguskarov’s brother Ilgiz told Mediazona. He also posted a video of Ilyas calming protesters.
Baiguskarov was detained in Baymak on January 17, but was later released. On the night of January 18, he was detained again in Ufa.
The day before, the Kirovsky District Court of Ufa was supposed to consider an administrative protocol on violation of the rules for holding rallies (Part 6.1 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code) against Baiguskarov, but it was returned to the police due to “significant shortcomings.”
p>The support group led by Ilgiz says that Bayguskarov is charged with participation in “mass riots” (Part 2 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code). Data about the case have not yet been published on the websites of district courts.
The court in Baymak on January 17 sentenced the defender of the Bashkir shihans, Fail Alsynov, to four years in prison on charges of inciting hatred (Part 1 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code) because of a speech at a village gathering against the plans of gold miners to begin mining near the village of Ishmurzino . The prosecution asked that he be sentenced to four years in a penal colony.
According to investigators, in April 2022, Alsynov “made a speech in the Bashkir language containing statements that negatively assessed the “residents of the Caucasus,” “Central Asia,” and “residents of the Caucasus.” and «Armenians». The case was opened on the initiative of the head of Bashkortostan, Radiy Khabirov — he wrote a complaint to the prosecutor's office.
“Armenians will leave for their homeland, "kara halyk" — to ourselves, the Russians — to their Ryazan, the Tatars — to their Tatarstan,” Alsynov said in Bashkir. “We cannot move, we have no other home, our home is here!” The expression “kara halyk” — “black people” — was an accusation and was considered an insult. The defense insists this is a misinterpretation. In fact, this phrase means “common people.”
Before the verdict, security forces blocked the road to the court, but the activist’s associates still gathered there. Within a radius of several kilometers, the mobile Internet was almost completely jammed. After the decision was made, protests continued with hundreds of people chanting “Freedom!”
Soon the arrests began. The security forces began to crowd around the crowd with shields, knock down and drag people through the snow, and beat the protesters with batons. The police used tear gas and stun grenades. In response, lumps of snow were thrown at the security forces. Several protesters were hospitalized. The publication “Proof” wrote that about 40 people were injured in total.
The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case under articles on mass riots and the use of violence against security forces (parts 1 and 2 of Article 212, part 1 of Article 318 of the Criminal Code). At least 17 participants in the gathering at the court received administrative arrests under articles of disobedience to police demands (Part 1 of Article 19.3 of the Administrative Code) or violation of the rules for holding rallies (Part 6.1 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code).
Gathering in Baymak. Protests after the verdict of activist Fail Alsynov in Bashkortostan