The Leninsky District Court of the city of Orsk sentenced five defendants in the case of protests in Bashkortostan's Baymak in January 2024 to five years in a general regime colony, the court's press service reported. Aytugan Abdullin, Murat Bikbulatov, Denis Ikbaev, Aibulat Nigametov, Ilmir Ryskulov were found guilty of participating in 'mass riots' and 'violence against a representative of authority'.
In January last year, the court sentenced activist Fail Alsynov* to 4 years in a general regime colony on charges of 'inciting hatred or enmity'. The criminal case was initiated based on a statement by the head of Bashkortostan, Radiy Khabirov. At the announcement of the verdict in Baymak, about 10,000 people gathered, according to local residents. The police initiated criminal cases on 'mass riots' against the protest participants. The Investigative Committee stated that police officers were injured, so the case included an article on 'violence against representatives of authority'.
As reported by 'Mediazona'**, arrests of the 'Baymak case' defendants continued until the end of April, two people died after detention, and at least two more were seriously injured. The publication identified 76 accused in the 'Baymak case'.
Court hearings were moved from Bashkortostan to neighboring regions of Russia to avoid provoking further protests. The first sentence was handed down in July in the Orenburg region — 50-year-old Ilshat Ulyabaev was sentenced to five years in a colony.
* Included in the list of 'terrorists and extremists'.
** Recognized in Russia as a 'foreign agent'.
Photo: AFP