Crowd protests jailing of activist in Russian region of Bashkortostan

(Reuters) - A rights activist in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan was sentenced to four years in a penal colony on Wednesday after a court found him guilty of inciting ethnic hatred, prompting clashes between his supporters and police.

Independent Russian-language news outlets said police fired tear gas and made arrests after scuffles broke out with a large crowd of people who had gathered in support of activist Fail Alsynov. It was not clear how many people had been detained.