A Moscow court on January 19 sent a leader of the Uzbek diaspora in Russia, Usman Baratov, to pretrial detention for at least two months on a charge of inciting hatred with his online posts, RFE/RL’s Russian Service reported.
Baratov pleaded not guilty to the charge, which stemmed from a post last month related to an abrupt increase of egg prices in Russia. Baratov’s post contained a photo of an unattractive hen with a caption saying: “No bloody eggs to you! Bring back the roosters from the front line!” Baratov was arrested amid an outcry by pro-Kremlin bloggers who said the post humiliated the wives of Russian men mobilized to fight in Ukraine.
