YUSUF JUMAEV MOVED TO HIGH-SECURITY PRISON IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 000843 SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/18/2018 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL UZ SUBJECT: YUSUF JUMAEV MOVED TO HIGH-SECURITY PRISON IN JASLYK REF: A. TASHKENT 463 ¶B. TASHKENT 127 ¶C. TASHKENT 700 Classified By: POLOFF R. FITZMAURICE FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D) ¶1. (C) During a two-day trip to Bukhara on July 15-16, poloff met with the daughter of Yusuf Jumaev, a dissident poet who was sentenced to five years' imprisonment in April for resisting arrest and harming a police officer (ref A). The daughter, Feruza, explained that Jumaev was recently moved from a minimum-security prison at Kongrad in the Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic to a maximum-security prison at Jasylk (also in Karakalpakstan) after he was convicted in a closed trial at the Kongrad prison for allegedly trying to escape. Feruza doubted that Jumaev could even attempt to flee the prison, as he has problems with his legs that have been exacerbated by his captivity. Feruza has not yet been able to visit her father at Jaslyk and was unaware of his present health condition. ¶2. (C) Feruza also confirmed that her brother, Bobur, who was tried along with his father, was given a three-year suspended sentence in April on health grounds and has been subsequently allowed to travel to Tashkent for medical treatment. She hinted that Bobur has since left Uzbekistan and has joined other family members applying for political asylum with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Feruza is the only member of Jumaev's family still in Uzbekistan other than Jumaev and his other son, Mashrab, who was sentenced to three years' imprisonment in January for allegedly stabbing an individual with a knife (ref C). Feruza reported enduring some harassment, including frequent surveillance and unknown individuals breaking windows at her family's home in the Karakul region of Bukhara province. ¶3. (C) Comment: The continuing Jumaev family saga has been the source of many outlandish rumors, including tales that both Jumaev and Mashrab had somehow escaped from prison (ref C). During their meeting on July 15, poloff found Feruza's version of events to be more credible. We will continue to monitor the treatment of Jumaev and Mashrab in prison closely, and hope that the government may consider them for amnesty next year. NORLAND