updated Wed. February 7, 2024
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The Local Sweden
April 26, 2018
Akilov's wife and four children had stayed behind in Uzbekistan. Prosecutors have argued that he acted alone, even though he chatted with unidentified contacts on social media about his plans as far back as January 2017. When his trial opened in February, Akilov told the court that he wanted "Sweden toÃâà...
Forum 18
April 13, 2018
At least three prisoners of conscience jailed to punish them for exercising freedom of religion or belief – all of them Muslims - have been freed early from their sentences, Forum 18 has learnt. Zulhumor and Mehrinisso Hamdamova were freed in February after more than eight years in prison. ZuboydÃâà...
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
April 13, 2018
He spent nearly two decades in prison for what are widely seen as trumped-up charges. But recently freed Uzbek journalist Yusuf Ruzimurodov says he holds no grudges against those who put him behind bars. The journalist says he knew all along that there would a heavy price to pay for working for aÃâà...
New York Times
April 4, 2018
Even political prisoners released in the mild “Uzbek spring” that has come after Mr. Karimov's death have been obliged to pay homage, with a two-day visit ... She remained in jail, though, the statement added; she was being held on another criminal charge while the authorities sought to recover more thanÃâà...
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
April 3, 2018
Uzbek police have detained a former deputy head of the country's National Security Service, the latest in a series of high-profile arrests of senior law enforcement officials, Tashkent sources say. Hayot Sharifkhojaev was detained in a special raid on March 30, a police officer who took part in the operationÃâà...
New York Times
April 2, 2018
Bucking a global trend toward authoritarianism, Uzbekistan's new leader is reining in the secret police, releasing political prisoners and allowing some freedom of expression. ... An alligator in the swimming pool, a Trump hotel room jail cell, and other news stories that sound like hoaxes — but aren't. [BBC]Ãâà...
New York Times
April 2, 2018
In Uzbekistan over the past year, at least 27 jailed high-profile dissidents, some of them held in prison for nearly two decades, have been released and ... however, depends on reining in the S.N.B., which under Mr. Karimov infested the country with informers, filled jails with political prisoners who wereÃâà...
Human Rights Watch
April 1, 2018
Uzbekistan's embattled human rights defenders, long harassed by the late Islam Karimov's repressive government, gathered in numbers not seen for ... Mirziyoyev has introduced some key reforms, releasing at least 26 political prisoners and relaxing restrictions on freedoms of association and expression.
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
March 26, 2018
Uzbek human rights activist Musajon Bobojonov has been handed a suspended three-year prison sentence after being convicted on extremism-related charges that he rejects. At a March 26 hearing, the Quva District Court in the Ferghana region found Bobojonov guilty of preparation, possession,Ãâà...
Omaha World-Herald
March 23, 2018
Vakhobov said the new government has removed 16,000 people from so-called “black lists” that targeted certain groups, and the president has pardoned 3,000 people viewed by some as political prisoners. He has issued decrees aimed at ending child labor and torture during investigations and punishingÃâà...
Open Democracy
March 21, 2018
Many of them have migrated from Uzbekistan, seeking safety in Russia from poverty and political persecution. The Russian judicial ... A month later, yet another brother was sent to prison, for trying to get a fair investigation. “I was constantly .... He's evidently having a hard time in jail.” Another client of CivicÃâà...
Los Angeles Times
March 13, 2018
In entering a guilty plea Tuesday, Fazliddin Kurbanov admitted using a prison-made knife to attack the warden at the Federal Correctional Institution at Victorville on ... The warden, who is now working at another facility operated by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, was seriously injured but has since recovered.
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
March 9, 2018
... there was no mistreatment of detainees in the notorious jails of Uzbekistan's powerful National Security Service (SNB), arguably the most feared institution in the country. But just minutes later Tokhtimametov, a former senior SNB interrogator, contradicts himself, recalling a brief stint in prison of his own byÃâà...
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
March 8, 2018
The ice is broken in relations between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the thaw is well under way, and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev is going to Tajikistan on March 9-10 as a sign a figurative spring has arrived. Mirziyoev has made better relations with Central Asian neighbors a priority since he becameÃâà...
teleSUR English
March 5, 2018
Uzbek prison guards line up in Jaslik jail some 1,000 km west from the capital Tashkent, Sept. .... Several groups petitioned for the release of the media workers prisoners including Amnesty International, the Association for Human Rights in Central Asia, Civil Rights Defenders, the Committee to ProtectÃâà...
The Independent
March 4, 2018
Human-rights activists are celebrating after the world's longest-imprisoned journalist was freed after 19 years in jail in Uzbekistan. ... After being imprisoned longer than any other journalist for his work – 19 years – Yusuf Ruzimuradov was finally released from prison in #Uzbekistan. Can you imageÃâà...
The Independent
March 4, 2018
Human-rights activists are celebrating after the world's longest-imprisoned journalist was freed after 19 years in jail in Uzbekistan. ... After being imprisoned longer than any other journalist for his work – 19 years – Yusuf Ruzimuradov was finally released from prison in #Uzbekistan. Can you imageÃâà...
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
March 2, 2018
Uzbek opposition journalist Yusuf Rozimurodov has been released from prison after spending 19 years behind bars, human rights activist Ismoil Adilov has told RFE/RL. According to Adilov, Rozimurodov was released on parole from a penal colony in the town of Chirchiq near Tashkent on February 22.
Human Rights Watch
March 2, 2018
Bekjanov was released last year, one of many 'political' prisoners freed by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who succeeded Uzbekistan's long-time strongman Islam Karimov in 2016. More than 20 such prisoners have now been freed under Mirziyoyev, of the 34 high-profile cases we covered back in 2014.
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
February 28, 2018
On the morning of May 13, 2005, a peaceful protest that had been in progress for a week by locals in Andijon who were demanding that detained local business leaders be freed was hijacked by escaped prisoners and an armed group that crossed into Uzbekistan from Kyrgyzstan in the early hours of theÃâà...
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
February 27, 2018
He added that he is currently living with his wife, Nina Bekjon, who returned from the United States to Uzbekistan. Bekjon, who was widely seen as a political prisoner, was released from prison on February 22, 2017. The Reporters Without Borders nongovernmental organization had listed Bekjon as "one ofÃâà...
The Diplomat
February 26, 2018
Uzbekistan's secret police no longer have purview over the case of a prominent journalist abducted in 2017, reports suggest. The decision ... They include Muhammad Bekjanov, who had been the world's longest-held journalist when released in February 2017 after 18 years in prison. But critics say theÃâà...
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
February 19, 2018
Uzbekistan's National Security Service (SNB) has wielded immense power for decades but its "time is up," according to the new sheriff in town. President Shavkat Mirziyoev in his second year in office has made no bones about criticizing one of the pillars of his long-serving predecessor's strong-armed rule,Ãâà...
Human Rights Watch
February 12, 2018
Bobomurod Abdullaev was detained on September 27, 2017 in Tashkent by officers in Uzbekistan's National Security Service (known as the “SNB”) on charges of “conspiracy to overthrow the constitutional regime” (Article 159(4) of Uzbekistan's Criminal Code), which carries up to 20 years in prison.
Al-Arabiya
February 5, 2018
Uzbekistan has freed a prominent reporter who spent close to a decade in jail, the journalist told AFP Monday, feeding hopes for a thaw in one of the former Soviet ... Opposition journalist Muhammad Bekjanov spent 18 years behind bars -- one of the longest prison stretches suffered by a reporter worldwideÃâà...
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
February 5, 2018
An Uzbek journalist and rights activist says he was tortured in prison and is looking forward to getting on with his life after nine years behind bars. ... He is one of several people widely considered political prisoners who have been freed since President Shavkat Mirziyoev came to power in 2016, after theÃâà...
The Diplomat
December 31, 1999
But if one sorts the index by abuse score alone, Uzbekistan sits in the bottom five with only Mexico, Eritrea, Syria and China with worse scores. RSF recognizes Tashkent's release of imprisoned journalists like Muhammad Bekjanov, who had been in jail for 18 years, and notes that “the trend has acceleratedÃâà...
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
December 31, 1999
More concerning for Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov is how Uzbekistan is achieving such a turnaround. ... Thousands languished in prisons, with international rights organizations claiming that many were tortured into making confessions and condemned at unfair trials without accessÃâà...
Times of Central Asia
December 31, 1999
TASHKENT (TCA) — A notorious, nearly 130-year-old jail in Uzbekistan's capital Tashkent will be replaced by a park, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reported. ... Tashtyurma prison was built in 1891 on the order of Imperial Russian Governor-General Aleksandr Vrevsky and is one of the oldest jails in Central Asia.
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
December 31, 1999
TASHKENT -- An Uzbek financier has been convicted of fraud and sentenced to prison over a pyramid scheme in which tens of thousands of people lost money. The Tashkent regional court handed down the verdict and sentence against Ahmad Tursunboev on February 21. The court sentencedÃâà...
Yahoo Singapore News
December 31, 1999
Isroil Kholdarov, a human rights and political activist from Andijan, scene of a brutal crackdown on protesters, was freed from a jail in the capital Tashkent ... Kholdarov is the second prominent political prisoner released by Uzbekistan this month after journalist Dilmurod Said was freed after nearly a decadeÃâà...
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
December 31, 1999
Isroiljon Xoldorov, an Uzbek opposition politician and human rights activist who was imprisoned over the 2005 Andijon massacre, has been released after almost 12 years behind bars. Rights advocate Saidjahon Zaynobiddinov told RFE/RL that Xoldorov was released on February 21 and has rejoined hisÃâà...
