Russian Court Of Anti-Israeli Riot Law Attacking Dagestan Airport More Than 6 Years In Prison

UNSPLASH ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - The court in Russia sentenced five men each to more than six years in prison in connection with mass anti-Israel protests in October 2023 at the Dagestan regional airport, the majority of which are Muslim.

Reported by Reuters on Friday, August 23, the man who was sentenced to six years and nine years was found to be involved in the riots. A protester was also found guilty of violence against government officials.

The trial was transferred from Dagestan to Krasnodar due to the sensitivity of the case.

Last October, hundreds of anti-Israel protesters stormed an airport in the city of Makhachkala when a plane from Tel Aviv had just arrived amid a spate of riots in the North Kaupas over Israel's war against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.

Video footage shows protesters, mostly young men, waving Palestinian flags, breaking down glass doors and running past the airport.

Crowds gathered at the airport after a message on the local Telegram channel urged Dagestan residents to meet an 'uninvited guest' and asked the plane and its passengers to turn around and fly elsewhere.

The channel, which was later banned by Telegram, did not use the word "Yahudi" but referred to the plane's passengers as "paratory".

More than 20 people were injured before security forces were able to quell the riots. No passengers on the plane were injured.