The Investigative Committee has charged Ilyas Bayguskarov, a blogger from Bashkortostan, with organizing mass riots (Part 1 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), according to his brother, Ilgiz Bayguskarov.
The specific accusations against the blogger remain unclear. The charge of organizing mass riots carries a potential sentence of 8 to 15 years in a penal colony.
The so-called Baymak case was initiated following mass protests in Baymak and Ufa in response to the imprisonment of environmental activist Fail Alsynov. Alsynov was sentenced to four years in a penal colony under the charges of inciting hatred due to a speech opposing gold mining at a village gathering. Over 80 people have been named as defendants in the case.
On January 17, Ilyas Bayguskarov was present outside the courthouse in Baymak, where he urged people to move away from the building and go home. Some of the protesters followed his advice.
It is believed that trials for the defendants in the Baymak case are being relocated to other regions to avoid further protests. The first and so far only verdict was handed down in July, when 50-year-old farmer Ilshat Ulyabayev was sentenced to five years in a penal colony under the charges of participating in mass riots and using violence against a law enforcement officer.
