Unprecedented demonstrations have been taking place for several days in the Republic of Bashkortostan, more than 1,000 kilometers from Moscow, home to a large Muslim and Turkish-speaking community, most of whose male component has been mobilized to fight in Ukraine since the Russian invasion of February 24, 2022 .Such a popular movement is extremely rare in Russia, where the slightest public criticism is punished with prison.
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On Friday morning, January 19, almost a thousand people marched in Ufa, the capital of the republic, despite riot police and the severe cold (-20 ° C), to peacefully demand the release of 37-year-old environmental activist Faïl Alsynov , sentenced two days earlier to four years in prison for “inciting ethnic hatred.”
In the main square of Salavat-Youlaev, demonstrators gathered, marched, danced and sang songs in the Bashkir language. Several of them were arrested and taken away by the police. Images of the rally were widely shared by independent news site Sota Vision.
This is the third demonstration organized in Bashkortostan this week in support of Faïl Alsynov, the leading figure of the local national and environmental movement, a highly respected figure among Bashkirs.
“What’s the point of life if you can’t express yourself freely? »
On Monday, January 15, and then on Wednesday, January 17, almost 5,000 people gathered in the small town of Baïmak, population 17,000, in the south of the republic, where the activist was tried behind closed doors. “What’s the point of life if you can’t express yourself freely? ” he explained before his performance, according to an audio recording broadcast on Radio Svoboda (Radio Freedom in Russian).
On Wednesday, shortly after the verdict was announced, arguments broke out. The police brutally dispersed the crowd, which was busy throwing snow and whatever else they could at the riot police. Several demonstrators were injured and others were arrested. According to a city court press release, nine of those arrested were sentenced to between eight and fifteen days in prison.
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The republic is ethnically mixed (Russians 37.5%, Bashkirs 31.5%, Tatars 24.2%) and is permeated by two major demands: protection of the environment and respect for the rights of indigenous peoples.
In 2020, activists and citizens opposed a mining project on Mount Kouchtau, considered a sacred site by Bashkirs. The company that runs the website, Bashkir Soda Kompany (BSK), is linked to billionaires Boris and Arkadi Rotenberg, childhood friends of President Vladimir Putin. As he coordinated the demonstrations, Faïl Alsynov subsequently found himself in the Kremlin's crosshairs. In the same year, his cultural association Bachkort was banned.
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