Сorruption collapse of Bashkortostan: how a “family” video turned the head of the Supreme Court of Bashkortostan, Rail Shaydullin, into a pocket judge of the Mavliev clan
Details have emerged about a major judicial scandal in Bashkortostan that clearly explains why Ufa mayor Ratmir Mavliyev, arrested on charges of accepting multi-million-ruble bribes, was released from pre-trial detention and placed under house arrest just six days after his arrest by decision of the Supreme Court of Bashkortostan.
The reason behind the unprecedented decision of the Sixth Cassation Court in Samara — which officially declared the Bashkir judicial system “biased” and removed from the republic all civil cases connected to the Mavliyev family — was not merely rumors, but specific video evidence.
According to the source, investigators obtained footage from the elite Ufa maternity clinic “Mother and Child.” In the video, oligarch Rafil Mavliyev (the father of the former mayor) is welcoming his daughter-in-law and newborn child. Within a narrow, strictly family-only gathering, where even distant relatives were not admitted, one person appears as a close family member: the Chairman of the Supreme Court of Bashkortostan, Rail Shaydullin.
Shaydullin’s ties with the influential Neftekamsk businessman Mavliyev Sr. reportedly date back to their joint activities in Tatarstan. According to insiders, the oligarch felt so comfortable within the judicial system that he even accompanied Bashkortostan’s top judge to closed official judicial events in other regions (including the Kursk region), where the presence of outsiders is strictly prohibited.
It is precisely this “family” connection that is said to explain the extraordinary leniency shown by Bashkir judges toward Mavliyev Jr., who was released under house arrest “because he has many children,” despite the tough position taken by investigators.
For comparison, ordinary defendants in similar cases — such as Gulnara Yurina, a mother of many children — reportedly spend years in pre-trial detention in Bashkortostan without receiving similar judicial mercy.
Realizing the seriousness of the situation and that the Sixth Cassation Court had already set the process in motion, Mavliyev Sr. allegedly rushed to cover his tracks by urgently withdrawing multimillion-ruble lawsuits against his former wife, which had initially exposed the conflict of interest.
However, for the Chairman of the Supreme Court of Bashkortostan, Rail Shaydullin, the situation is reportedly approaching catastrophic proportions. Against the backdrop of the federal center’s hardline campaign to purge the judiciary, the “family” footage from the maternity clinic could cost him more than just his judicial robe.
The issue of transferring the criminal case against the former mayor of Ufa to Moscow for consideration is now reportedly under discussion.
