The Bashkortostan case is a little more complex. The protests were caused by the Russian-installed government sentencing a prominent eco-activist to 4-years in the prison for his speech in his native tongue. He told something like that "everyone should go back to their homeland: Russians to the Russia, and the black people to their homes then we will live happily". The judges mistranslated the "black people" as a hate speech and that was what he got the 4 years prison term for. However, they say that "black people" is a stable phrase for any low-paid worker in Bashkiria and there was no hate speech in that case.
When a couple of thousands rallied under the court, police arrested several men; one of them is now dead (the police told that it was alcohol overdose, but he did not drink alcohol), and another one is in a hospital with a broken bone in his spine.
Regarding the prisoner list and the plane: they say there was only one person on the list who was already exchanged last year.
The Bashkortostan case is a little more complex. The protests were caused by the Russian-installed government sentencing a prominent eco-activist to 4-years in the prison for his speech in his native tongue. He told something like that "everyone should go back to their homeland: Russians to the Russia, and the black people to their homes then we will live happily". The judges mistranslated the "black people" as a hate speech and that was what he got the 4 years prison term for. However, they say that "black people" is a stable phrase for any low-paid worker in Bashkiria and there was no hate speech in that case.
When a couple of thousands rallied under the court, police arrested several men; one of them is now dead (the police told that it was alcohol overdose, but he did not drink alcohol), and another one is in a hospital with a broken bone in his spine.
Regarding the prisoner list and the plane: they say there was only one person on the list who was already exchanged last year.
Thanks Tom!