Supporter Of Imprisoned Bashkir Activist Gets 5 Years In Prison

By RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service

A Russian court on July 18 sentenced Ilshat Ulyabayev -- a supporter of imprisoned Bashkir activist Fail Alsynov -- to five years in prison on charges of participating in mass unrest and attacking a police officer. Ulyabayev pleaded guilty. The 50-year-old is the first person sentenced in the high-profile case. Alsynov was sentenced to four years in prison in January on a charge of inciting hatred that he and his supporters call politically motivated. Thousands of Alsynov's supporters rallied before and after his sentence was handed down in Bashkortostan and clashed with police protesting the sentence. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service, click here.