The head of Bashkortostan announced criminal cases against defenders of the Kushtau Shikhan

The head of Bashkortostan, Radiy Khabirov, announced “criminal proceedings” due to clashes between defenders of the Kushtau Shikhan with private security company employees and the police. The broadcast of the meeting of the government of the republic was published on its YouTube channel.

“The clashes [near Kushtau] resulted in injuries to both people and internal affairs officers. This is definitely unacceptable. As for the attack on internal affairs officers, this will be the subject of serious criminal proceedings,” Khabirov said. “I will ask the Ministry of Health, look: there are two employees in the hospital, if the participants [in the conflict] are there, pay attention to everyone.”

Protests near the Kushtau Shikhan, which was turned over to mining for lime extraction in 2018, began in August, when trees began to be cut down there. Over two weeks, about 80 activists were detained, several of them were given administrative arrests.

Shikhan defenders said that during the destruction of their camp on August 15, private security company employees used gas canisters. The next day, Khabirov arrived in Kushtau and announced a cessation of work until the end of negotiations between the parties. “I will try to ensure that there are no more arrests <..> You don’t put conditions on me, everything will be according to the law,” he said.