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The Samara Regional Court upheld the verdict on appeal, despite the prosecutor’s request to increase the sentences. This was reported to OVD-Info by lawyer Ruslan Ignatyev, who is representing one of the defendants, Aytugan Kitikov.

In March, Kitikov was sentenced to seven years in a general regime penal colony, Shafkat Ulmasbayev to seven and a half years, Fidan Ismagilov to six years, and the fourth defendant to five and a half years. The prosecutor had demanded that each be given a ten-year prison sentence.

The defendants were found guilty of participating in mass riots (part 2, article 212 of the Criminal Code) and using violence against a government official (part 1, article 318 of the Criminal Code).

According to investigators, during the dispersal of protesters in Baymak, a city in Bashkortostan, Kitikov pushed and hit a police officer on the shoulder and also threw a helmet at a law enforcement officer. The defendant insisted that he did not push the police officer but put out his hands to steady an officer who had slipped. Kitikov also said that he picked up a helmet that had fallen off a police officer and threw it back towards them because the crowd prevented him from handing it over normally.

  • In January 2024, Baymak, a city in Bashkortostan, saw a popular assembly in support of Bashkir activist and former head of the Bashkort movement Fail Alsynov, who was being sentenced for a speech at another rally. Alsynov was sentenced to four years in a penal colony.
  • The assembly ended in clashes with law enforcement, who tried to disperse the protesters. After the protest, a wave of arrests began in Bashkortostan, with more than 80 people becoming suspects in a criminal case. Most have been charged with participating in riots and using violence against public officials.
  • Some defendants reported being subjected to violence. Rifat Dautov, who was taken from his home by OMON officers, died after being detained. Another participant, Minniyar Bayguzkarov, died by suicide after being interrogated—relatives reported that he was badly beaten during one of the interrogations.