On 3 April 2019, he was detained on charges of organising violence against police officers at a rally on 27 March 2019 and sent to a pre-trial detention facility in Nalchik. Later transferred to the pre-trial detention centre in Vladikavkaz. At the end of December 2019, a case was opened for organising the activities of an extremist community. In addition, he was charged with failure to fulfil the obligation to notify about the presence of a second citizenship, later the charge was dropped due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. On 16 March 2021, he went on hunger strike and refused to participate in the trial due to the return of Zarifa Sautieva from house arrest to the pre-trial detention centre. On 23 March, he stopped his hunger strike after appeals from the public. On 15 December, he was sentenced to nine years in a general regime colony.