Less than a month ago, Bashkir opposition activist Ayrat Dilmukhametov, whose words we quoted, commented on the news that Tatar political exile Rafis Kashapov had been provided with a two-room apartment in Britain. He wrote: «The British government has provided Rafis Kashapov, a Tatar political prisoner and dissident, with a two-room apartment. The Russian government can only provide me, for the third time, with a separate solitary cell in its detention centers, comfortable all-inclusive isolation cells, and 5-star barracks for harsh detention conditions in harsh regime camps. That is all you need to know about the gulf between the decaying West and this spiritually fortified dwelling».
And now, today, Dilmukhametov, who has served three prison terms on political charges, has been visited for the fourth time. According to the available information, he himself has also been detained, and his apartment is being searched, and his lawyer’s office is also being searched. As reported, he is again accused of some «extremist» statement he made a year ago. But why did the law enforcement officials wait a whole year, and why did they decide to arrest Dilmukhametov at this particular moment?
According to some commentators, it has to do with the recent statement by Alexei Navalny’s headquarters in Bashkortostan, in which they announced their support for the candidate for head of the republic who can most effectively challenge the Kremlin’s stooge. And Dilmukhametov has long declared his intention to participate in these elections and is seen by many as the main opponent of the Kremlin’s puppet.
The latter, let us recall, is being pushed into this position by Radiy Khabirov — a nominal «ethnic Muslim» with not only a Christian wife but also their Christian sons. According to the available information, he himself has been baptized for a long time, at least he was seen in the church during the services and he took part in the «Epiphany bath». According to the current rulers of the «Russian world», only such «ethnic Muslims» as Khabirov or Vladimir Vasilyev, who has rejected his Kazakh father’s surname, can represent the «natsemen». But since Khabirov’s appointment, he has had one failure after another. His position was seriously undermined by the Sibay scandal — an environmental disaster of republican proportions for which even Alexei Navalny openly called Khabirov a «scoundrel.»
Accordingly, the support of Ayrat Dilmukhametov by Alexei Navalny’s Bashkir headquarters created a dangerous configuration for the authorities. And as the coordinator of this headquarters, Lilya Chanyshova, confirmed today in an interview with a correspondent of Idel.Realii, they considered (and continue to consider, since his legal status is still unclear) Dilmukhametov’s candidacy as quite likely to receive such support.
But if Dilmukhametov is the Bashkir Navalny, how will Navalny himself behave toward him now that he is excluded from the elections? After all, when Navalny was not allowed to participate in the presidential elections in Russia, he called for a boycott and accused opposition figures who agreed to participate in such elections of playing by the Kremlin’s rules. Will Navalny now prove to be a consistent opposition figure according to his own criteria, or will he continue to play by the Kremlin’s rules in Bashkortostan?