Repressions against Tatar and Bashkort activists. The Baimak case – a year later

One of the loud protest actions that took place in recent years in Russia, which the Investigative Committee would later call “armed resistance”, happened a year ago. The protest action, which arose suddenly like a hurricane in areas with a sharp drop in atmospheric pressure, showed the courage of the Bashkort people and their determination against the injustice of the puppet government of Bashkortostan. The protest was caused by the verdict in the criminal case against Fail Alsynov when he did not admit his guilt.

Falsification of criminal cases, politically motivated arrests, interrogations and pressure from security forces have become the norm in Putin’s Russia. But the Baimak protests, which flared at the peak of the strengthening of legislative pressure by the Russian government on the population in connection with Russia’s war in Ukraine, became an indicator of the protest force that can arise in Russia and the national republics at any moment.

Also, 2024 was a difficult year for both representatives of the Tatar national movement and the Republic of Tatarstan socio-political activists. It was accompanied by a series of searches, interrogations, issuing large fines, imprisonment in pretrial detention, and the initiation of administrative and criminal cases. Many of the lawsuits have been postponed to 2025. For example, the trial of the veteran of the Tatar national movement Zinnur Agliullin will take place on 20 January.

Not all the uprisings in Russia, of which there were countless, had a positive outcome. Therefore, our nations are still under the occupation of Muscovy. But this does not mean that history has forgotten its brave fighters. To this day, trials of the “participants” of the Baimak case continue, and people receive very long criminal sentences. But the history of the Baimak case is far from over, and may even begin the liberation of our people from the harsh, bloody shackles of Muscovy.

We express our honour and respect to the participants of the Baimak case for speaking out against injustice and for their courage in defending their legal rights!