The court arrested the head of the Uzbek community, Usman Baratov

The court in Moscow arrested for two months the head of the interregional Uzbek community “Vatandosh” Usman Baratov. He is accused of “inciting hatred or enmity” because of a post on social networks. Baratov did not admit his guilt.

In December last year, Baratov published a post related to the discussion of the sharp rise in prices for chicken eggs. The post contained an image of a chicken and the caption: “Fine with butter, not eggs! Bring back the roosters from the front.”

Russian pro-Kremlin bloggers drew attention to the picture. Seeing in it a hint of the wives of the mobilized – participants in hostilities on the territory of Ukraine, they filed a collective application in the name of the head of the SC of Russia Alexander Bastrykin with the demand to open a criminal case against the head of the Uzbek community.

After that, Baratov was detained. According to the investigation, the head of Vatandosh “humiliated a group of Russian citizens, including participants in a special military operation.”

The Office of the Investigative Committee in Moscow reported that a number of forensic examinations, including linguistic and computer-technical ones, have been appointed in the case of Baratov. Investigators are also looking for possible accomplices.

Baratov pleaded not guilty. Commenting on the accusation brought against him, he said that “the satirical photo of chickens has nothing to do with the participants of the SVO”.

• The Deputy Speaker of the State Duma, Pyotr Tolstoy, demanded that national communities and diasporas be equated with organized criminal structures, and called for an end to “international liberalism” and to “liquidate similar associations.”