76 arrested: Mediazona published a major article about the Baymak case, the largest protest case in modern Russia.
Six months ago, on January 17, the Baimaksky District Court of Bashkortostan sentenced defender of the Shikhans and co-chairman of the banned organization "Bashkort" Failya Alsynova He was sentenced to four years in prison for inciting hatred. The prosecution was based on a speech he made in Bashkir, which, according to investigators, negatively assessed the people of Central Asia.
Thousands of people came out to support Alsynov at the court – for this the security forces beat They hit them with batons, sprayed tear gas, and threw flashbang grenades into the crowd. The crowd tried to fight back with snowballs and sticks.
That same day, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against at least 76 people. The suspects complained of torture, and two of them died before they could be charged.
The authorities want to conduct the process as discreetly as possible: for this, many of the defendants judged not in Bashkortostan, but in neighboring regions, in order to prevent the possibility of new public gatherings in defense of the accused.
Mediazona examined court records and closed self-help chats to identify the 76 detainees and their charges.
The full study can be read here.