News digest for August 16

A verdict in a “sanitary case”, huge sentences for those involved in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case in Crimea, and a hunger strike by a Bashkir activist in a pre-trial detention center. Read the main news for August 16.

• Navalny's press secretary Kira Yarmysh was sentenced to one and a half years of restriction of freedom on a “sanitary matter”, and the former head of Navalny’s headquarters in Moscow, Oleg Stepanov, was asked to receive two years of restriction of freedom. The oppositionists are charged with inciting violations of sanitary and epidemiological rules at the rally on January 23.
• The defendants in the Alushta Hizb ut-Tahrir case, Lenur Khalilov, Ruslan Mesutov, Ruslan Nagaev and Eldar Kantimirov, were sentenced to terms of 12 to 18 years in prison. They were found guilty under articles of terrorist organization and preparation for the overthrow of power.
• Saratov resident Ilya Kuleshov, who took part in the April 21 rally in support of Alexei Navalny,was sentenced to a fine of 30 thousand rubles. He was accused of using violence against a police officer.
• The court placed environmental activist and defender of the Shies station Andrei Khristoforov, known as Drevarkh the Enlightened, under house arrest. According to investigators, he hit the police officer with a stun gun.
• Krym.Realii journalist Vladislav Esipenko, who survived torture during detention, reported deteriorating health in the pre-trial detention center. He is accused of manufacturing and storing explosives.
• Activist of the Bashkir national movement Ramilya Saitova was left in a pre-trial detention center on charges of calls for extremism. The prisoner has been on a hunger strike for almost a month.
• The court recognized the legal extension of the custody of Rosderzhava journalist Yan Katelevsky. On the eve of the hearing, a lawyer was not allowed to see him in the pre-trial detention center.
• In St. Petersburg, the criminal case against the head of the local Teachers' Alliance, Daniil Ken, was dropped . The activist was accused of insulting a judge because of a post on VKontakte.