Several criminal cases have been opened in Bashkortostan. This is associated with actions in defense of the Kushtau Shikhan

In Bashkortostan, security forces opened several criminal cases, and also carried out investigative actions on January 13 in Ufa and in the village of Karmaskaly in connection with the possible involvement of local residents in the activities of the human rights organization "Bashkort", recognized as extremist in Russia. This was reported by Idel.Realii and Bashinform .

Investigative actions and arrests took place as part of criminal cases under articles of preparation or attempted hooliganism with the use of weapons (Part 2 of Article 213 of the Criminal Code with the use of Article 30 of the Criminal Code) and illegal acquisition or storage of weapons (Part 1 of Article 222 of the Criminal Code) . Also, according to Bashinform, the investigation is conducting a check under the article on inciting hatred or enmity (Article 282 of the Criminal Code).

The searches were carried out by FSB officers together with police officers, including employees of the Center for Combating Extremism (CPE). After the searches, security forces detained several people, but the exact number of detainees is unknown. The telegram channel “Oper leaked” reported the arrest of 15 people.

During the searches, according to Bashinform on January 14, security forces seized two sawn-off shotguns, a homemade firearm and a can of gunpowder. On January 13, the publication reported that during the investigation, bladed weapons, extremist literature and symbols of the Bashkort organization were also seized.

Ilnur Kinisarov’s wife Rezeda Ibragimova, in a conversation with Idel.Realii, said that during the search in their house there were even witnesses wearing masks, and the security forces “discovered” two pistols:

This is the first time we have seen this weapon; Of course, it is not ours. Apparently it was planted during the search. They allegedly found them under furniture on our cold veranda, in the hallway. While the rooms were being searched, two employees remained in this corridor behind a closed door the entire time.

As Idel.Realii and Bashinform write, among the detainees are Rustam Amanov, Ilnur Kinisarov, Rail Abkadirov, Aitugan Biktashev, Radmir Mukhametshin, Marat Sharafutdinov and Rizvan Rakhmetov. Initially, they were taken to the building of the department for combating organized crime of the Bashkir Ministry of Internal Affairs in Ufa.

The formal reason for the persecution of local residents was allegedly a conflict that occurred in November between a local resident and the Armenian diaspora. On November 7, the police, together with special forces soldiers, roughly detained several dozen people who, as reported on social networks, were on their way to protect a participant in the conflict. According to Bashinform, firearms and bladed weapons were then confiscated from the detainees.

In a conversation with Idel.Realii, Bashkir activist Ruslan Gabbasov linked investigative actions and new criminal cases with the authorities’ attempt to put pressure on the Bashkort organization.

“They will again declare that our organization, already banned by the court, has “turned into a criminal community” and “continues to engage in extremist activities.” Meanwhile, after the injunction was issued, we did not hold any events. We have now appealed the court's decision in cassation and are waiting for a decision, which our opponents are well aware of. But, apparently, they want to finish us off to the end, because they believe that we still retain influence on the Bashkir people and are afraid of our activity on the eve of the upcoming State Duma elections,” the publication quotes Gabbasov as saying.

The KushTau on-line telegram channel also linked the actions of the security forces with protests against the industrial development of the Kushtau Shikhan. Activists believe that in this way the authorities are putting pressure on the defenders of the natural monument.

In particular, the telegram channel emphasized that Bashkort and its supporters initially spoke out in defense of the shihan, and this could be one of the reasons for recognizing Bashkort as an extremist organization.

According to Bashinform, four detainees - Rustam Amanov, Ilnur Kinisarov, Rail Abkadirov and Marat Sharafutdinov - were sent to a pre-trial detention center by the court. At the same time, the publication does not specify in which court the investigation’s request for detention was considered.

Four more detainees, writes the KushTau on-line telegram channel, were released on January 14 on their own recognizance, but the channel does not specify their names.

Among the detainees who were released from the police is Radmir Mukhametshin. He told Idel.Realii that one of the security officials explained the searches and criminal cases as a reaction to statements written by the detainees in November.

In their statements, local residents asked that police and special forces be charged under articles of abuse of power (Article 285 of the Criminal Code) and abuse of power (Article 286 of the Criminal Code) due to detentions, beatings, damage to cars and other actions of security forces, which the detainees considered illegal. Mukhametshin quotes the words of one of the policemen:

By the way, today at the Center for External Action they told us directly: “You just can’t calm down, are you writing statements against us? - Well, now here’s an answer for you, here are criminal cases for you

The KushTau on-line telegram channel also reported about the beating of one of the detainees, without naming his name. The detainee was taken from the detention center to the emergency room, and then placed in a temporary detention facility under the management of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Bashkortostan.

On January 15, the security forces released all the detainees, except for four local residents, whom the court sent into custody. This was reported by the Bashinform news agency.

The agency also clarified that the security forces detained 14 people in total. 10 of them were released “after procedural measures.”

In addition, according to Bashinform, security forces found seized weapons, cartridges and a can of gunpowder in the houses of the arrested Rustam Amanov, Ilnur Kinisarov, Rail Abkadirov and Marat Sharafutdinov.

The publication does not specify the procedural status of the 10 people who were released from the police.

• The Bashkir public organization “Bashkort” was recognized as extremist in May 2020 by decision of the Supreme Court of the republic.
• Shikhan Kushtau is a small mountain in the Ishimbay region of Bashkortostan. Local activists have been fighting for several months against deforestation for the development of soda and limestone deposits in the territory of Kushtau. As a result, on September 2, 2020, the government of Bashkiria declared Shikhan Kushtau a natural monument of republican significance. After this, work on the mountain stopped.
• Bashkir activists are in favor of preserving several natural monuments, the remaining shihans - Toratau, Kushtau and Yuraktau. The previously existing shihan of Shakhtau was completely destroyed to obtain raw materials by the Bashkir Soda Company. On August 15, police detained more than 70 defenders of Kushtau, many of them were later arrested under administrative charges. The head of Bashkortostan, Radiy Khabirov, threatened the protesters with criminal charges, but later promised that the Shikhan would be given the status of a specially protected area.