A Tatar activist received a suspended sentence for saying that "Russia oppresses other peoples."
73-year-old Zinnur Agliullin, an activist with the Tatar national movement, was given a suspended sentence of 2.5 years for repeated incitement of hatred and enmity. The prosecutor had requested a prison sentence.
According to investigators, Agliullin compared Russians to prison overseers, claiming that they "only recognize force" and that "Russia cannot be Russia if it does not oppress other peoples, if it does not take their lands and resources."
Agliullin called his prosecution "revenge by the authorities for the creation of the Tatar community center—for the fact that this public organization prevented several upheavals and saved society from civil strife."
"If Russia hadn't sent Tatars, Chuvash, and other peoples to war in Ukraine in its place, it wouldn't be Russia; it would be a different state. Therefore, as long as this state remains the same, nothing will change. Therefore, we have only one choice: not to give up," Agliullin, who supported the All-Tatar Public Center, previously stated.
In the 1990s, the All-Tatar Public Center demanded full sovereignty for Tatarstan. In 2022, the center was designated an extremist organization and liquidated by a decision of the Supreme Court of Tatarstan.
