JOURNALIST SOBIRJON YAKUBOV RELEASED

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 000691 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/07/2016 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL UZ SUBJECT: JOURNALIST SOBIRJON YAKUBOV RELEASED REF: A) 05 TASHKENT 1115 B) 05 TASHKENT 1169 C) 03 TASHKENT 467 D) TASHKENT 439 Classified By: AMB. JON R. PURNELL, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D). ¶1. (C)Sobirjon Yakubov, a journalist with "Hurriyat" newspaper, was released on April 3, after spending a year in prison. Yakubov was detained on April 11, 2005, on the charge of undermining the constitutional order, under article 159 of the criminal code (ref A). However, he was never formally tried or convicted. The authorities accused Yakubov, a devout Muslim who had written articles on democratic reforms and Islam, of links with banned Islamic groups. Media analysts suspect that the GOU was particularly angered by his March 2005 article implicating the Kuchma regime in journalist Heorhi Gongadze's murder; Yakubov had argued that the slaying underscored the need for democratic reform in Ukraine, and that similar reforms were needed in Uzbekistan. Yakubov's lawyer, Shoida Muhammedova, told poloff that Yakubov is currently visiting relatives in the Ferghana Valley. An Embassy human rights contact told emboff that Yakubov was instructed not to speak with diplomats after his release. ¶2. (C) The Ambassador had expressed concern over Yakubov's detention in a meeting with First Deputy Foreign Minister Nematov in April 2005 (ref B). Another "Hurriyat" journalist, Gayrat Mehliboyev, was arrested in February 2003, and sentenced to seven years in prison for membership in Hizb-ut-Tahrir (ref C). ¶3. (C) Comment: We welcome Yakubov's release, which follows the release of RFE/RL Namangan correspondent Nosir Zokir on February 26 following his completion of a six month sentence (ref D). We find it interesting that the GOU decided to grant Yakubov amnesty, as he seems to have never been officially tried or convicted of a crime. However, regardless of what means the GOU decided to use to authorize the journalist,s release from custody, this is good news. PURNELL