It is an extremely rare explosion of anger, in a Russia where individual freedoms are increasingly muzzled. This Wednesday, January 17, scuffles broke out between thousands of demonstrators and the police in a small town in the Urals. The cause of this mobilization: the condemnation of a regional opponent critical of the assault in Ukraine, Faïl Alsynov, who pushed nearly 6,000 demonstrators into the street.
The Investigative Committee of Russia, the judicial arm of the Putin regime, reported injuries, including police officers, after these clashes. He also announced the opening of an investigation into organizing “mass riots” and violence against the police, crimes punishable by heavy prison sentences.
Demonstrators in Baimak, in the republic of Bashkortostan, were dispersed with tear gas while around twenty people were arrested, according to the specialized NGO OVD-Info, an organization classified as a “foreign agent” by the Russian state.
Up to 15 years in prison incurred
The demonstrators were protesting in front of the court where activist Fail Alsynov was being tried, this organization reported. In videos posted on social media, a crowd of warmly dressed people could be seen throwing snowballs in -20°C weather at police carrying shields and others chanting: “Shame!”
Images also showed demonstrators coughing heavily and wiping their eyes after the use of tear gas by law enforcement in this town of some 17,000 inhabitants located not far from Kazakhstan. Still according to OVD-Info, which documents demonstrations and arrests in Russia and helps opponents, “dozens of people have been injured” and access to mobile Internet is “almost” completely cut off on site.
The term “riot” by the Russian authorities is not insignificant: if the accusation is upheld by the courts, the protesters now face up to 15 years in prison. This judicial repression increasingly curbs the desires of the demonstrators. The previous large-scale movements in the streets date back to the fall of 2022, at the time of the mobilization campaign of hundreds of thousands of reservists, civilians therefore, to strengthen the ranks of the army engaged in Ukraine.
“Fight for justice”
Faïl Alsynov, a 37-year-old activist who fights in particular against the exploitation of energy resources in Bashkortostan, was already fined last year for criticizing the Russian army’s mobilization campaign. He called it a “genocide of the Bashkir people”, saying that Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine was “not our war”, according to media reports.
On Wednesday, a separate case earned him a four-year prison sentence for “inciting hatred”. It was this judgment, delivered behind closed doors, which led thousands of his supporters to demonstrate in front of the court. The facts date back to last year: in a speech against the exploitation of gold mines, Faïl Alsynov used two words in Bashkir, the local language, described as racist by the authorities.
The activist has since claimed that his remarks were poorly translated into Russian: “I do not recognize my guilt. I have always fought for justice, for my people, for my republic”, he again defended himself after the announcement of the verdict. “We will appeal.” In its judgment, the Baimak court ruled that Faïl Alsynov’s remarks had been intended to “incite hatred and humiliate the dignity of a group of people on the basis of race, nationality, language or origin.
On the list of “terrorist” personalities
The day before, the name of Faïl Alsynov had been added to the list established by the Russian authorities of “terrorist and extremist” personalities for his participation in an organization banned in Bashkortostan, AFP noted. In a video on Telegram, Bashkir fighters engaged in Ukraine, for their part, requested the “sending” of the activist and his supporters to the front with them to “re-educate them and teach them to love the homeland”.
This call to order from the authorities came the day after a first large-scale demonstration in support of Faïl Alsynov in Baimak, during which several hundred people demanded from President Vladimir Putin, according to videos on social networks, the resignation of regional governor Radiï Khabirov, who had criticized this activist. “We are not extremists! We are not Nazis!” shouted a man standing on a mound of snow. “We just want the law to be respected!”