According to information from AIrat Dilumukhametov’s associates, the FSB is trying to imprison the leader of the Bashkir national resistance for the maximum possible term. In addition to the charges already brought against him, two more posts and a radio broadcast on «Echo of Moscow in Ufa» in 2018 have been found. The latter falls under Article 280.1 of the Russian Criminal Code, «Public calls for actions aimed at violating the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation.»
This is despite the fact that Dilumukhametov has repeatedly emphasized that he is not fighting for Bashkortostan’s secession from Russia, but for the restructuring of the latter on the principles of a true federation through the conclusion of a new federal treaty. However, as can be seen, the Russian security forces now consider calls for the revival of federalism as a crime against the state, which is not surprising, given that Russia has de facto become a hyper-centralized state.
So, what do we see — a public figure, a politician, who declared his intention to participate in the elections for the head of Bashkortostan, which are scheduled for September, was first arrested before these elections, and then they began to look for reasons to keep him imprisoned as long as possible. Naive people, assuming at least partial rationality of the authorities, still believe that Dilumukhametov was «detained» only for the duration of the elections.
However, as we have written before, the actions of the security forces indicate that they will try to keep Dilumukhametov locked up for at least ten years, and unfortunately the news coming from Bashkurdistan confirms our prediction. And all this is done only on the basis of articles and speeches of a person who, we would like to emphasize once again, tried to remain in the legal sphere of Russia.
A person who was supported not only by Russian human rights activists, the Bashkir National Assembly, but also by numerous public and political figures of the republic with different views. But all this does not stop the FSB, which tries to turn almost every word spoken or written by Dilumukhametov into a criminal charge against him.
To support the prisoner of conscience, you can send money to his elderly, lonely mother (his father died during his previous term of imprisonment):
Sberbank card 4274 2716 2662 1831, recipient Agiyash Sameevna Dilumukhametova, mobile bank +79273516654.