UZBEKISTAN: UPDATE ON THREE CASES INVOLVING JOURNALISTS

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019-03-13
TAGS: PHUM KPAO OSCE PGOV PREL UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN: UPDATE ON THREE CASES INVOLVING JOURNALISTS

REF: 08 TASHKENT 1163; TASHKENT 217

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CLASSIFIED BY: Richard Fitzmaurice, Poloff; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)


1. (U) Summary: This cable provides updates on the cases of three
journalists who have recently been imprisoned or charged with
various crimes: Salidjahon Abdurakhmanov, a journalist from
Uzbekistan's Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic who was sentenced
to 10 years' imprisonment on politically-motivated drug charges in
October 2008 (ref A); Khushodbek Usmanov, a journalist at a
state-controlled newspaper in Andijon province who was charged with
hooliganism and defamation in January; and Dilmurod Sayyidov, an
Embassy contact and journalist who was accused of extortion by
Samarkand province officials in February (ref B). We recommend
these cases be raised at the upcoming OSCE session devoted to media
freedom. End summary.



OZODLIK MISREPORTS SUPREME COURT DECISION ON ABDURAKHMANOV

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2. (C) On March 3, Radio Free Europe's Uzbek language website
Ozodlik.org erroneously reported that the Uzbek Supreme Court had
decided to send back Abdurakhmanov's case to a court in
Karakalpakstan for reconsideration after uncovering unspecified
shortcomings in the original criminal case against him. On March
10, Abdurakhmanov's brother Bakhrom told Embassy Press Assistant
that he was misunderstood by the Ozodlik reporter, explaining that
the Supreme Court had only requested additional documentation from
Karakalpak authorities. He noted that the Supreme Court was still
considering his brother's case and had not yet made any decision.
He also observed that the inaccurate Ozodlik report had been
subsequently picked up by several other independent media outlets.




ANDIJON-BASED JOURNALIST REPORTEDLY BEATEN

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3. (C) On March 5, the independent Harakat.net website reported
that journalist Khushodbek Usmanov was beaten with blunt objects
while being held at a pre-trial detention facility in Andijon
province. Harakat's editor (and Ezgulik human rights group deputy
director) Abdurakhmon Tashanov told Embassy Press Assistant on
March 10 that Usmanov's wife, Nasiba Abdullaeva, reported the
incident to him, which he believed was credible. Tashanov is
currently monitoring Usmanov's trial at a criminal court in the
town of Asaka in Andijon province, which is expected to conclude
soon. The Prosecutor reportedly requested a sentence for Usmanov
of six months for hooliganism and defamation, though Tashanov
expected that Usmanov would be given a suspended sentence because
of his age (Usmanov is 64 years old).




4. (C) Tashanov reported to Embassy Press Assistant that Usmanov
was a journalist at a small state-controlled newspaper in Asaka.
He observed that his writing was not particularly noteworthy and
focused mostly on business. Tashanov added that he was "100
percent" sure that Usmanov was not targeted because of his
journalism, but rather because he had sent several inflammatory
letters to local police in Asaka shortly before his arrest. He

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also shared his view that Usmanov was "mentally unbalanced."



SAYYIDOV FORMALLY CHARGED, AWAITING TRIAL

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5. (C) On March 13, poloff met with the wife and mother of
Dilmurod Sayyidov, who was arrested in Tashkent on February 20 and
was formally charged by Samarkand authorities on February 25 with
extortion (Criminal Code Article 165),which carries a possible
sentence of between 10 and 15 years' imprisonment (ref B).
Sayyidov is currently being held at a pre-trial detention facility
in the town of Kattakurghan in Samarkand province. Sayyidov's
lawyers, Rukhuddin Komilov and Hasan Makbubov, have been allowed to
visit him a total of four times since his arrest and reported that
he does not appear to have been mistreated. Authorities are still
pursuing their criminal investigation into Sayyidov and it is
unclear when a trial may commence.




6. (C) Sayyidov's wife argued that the extortion charge was
fabricated by local authorities who were upset with his advocacy in
support of farmers from Samarkand's Jamboy district embroiled in a
dispute with local officials. These officials included collective
farm head Asliddin Orambaev, who was reportedly cheating farmers
out of fuel subsidies, and Orambaev's sister, another local
official who was illegally selling land at the farmers' expense.
After their complaints fell on deaf ears, the farmers reportedly
turned to Sayyidov, who wrote several articles on their plight (we
have not seen copies of the articles). Approximately two weeks
before his arrest, Sayyidov was contacted by one of the farmers'
daughters, Marguba Juraeva, who said she wanted to arrange a
meeting with Orambaev. Sayyidov initially refused to meet with
him, but after being hounded incessantly by Juraeva for several
days, he finally agreed to meet with Juraeva and Orambaev at a
restaurant in Samarkand on February 18. At the meeting, Orambaev
reportedly asked that Sayyidov cease his advocacy on behalf of the
farmers. On February 22, Juraeva was allegedly arrested by police
in Samarkand while in possession of 10,000 dollars. She claimed
that Sayyidov had demanded the money from Orambaev during the
meeting at the restaurant in return for ceasing his advocacy on
behalf of the farmers. Sayyidov's wife reported that Juraeva later
admitted fabricating the story in the presence of Sayyidov's
lawyer. She also reported that three officials from the Samarkand
General Prosecutor's Office produced a warrant to search their home
in Tashkent on February 24, but found nothing incriminating.




7. (C) According to his wife, Sayyidov has suffered from a
non-reactive form of tuberculosis for the past seven years and was
receiving treatment, including injections and tablets, at a private
clinic in Tashkent every three months. He also occasionally would
spit up blood and was using cream to reduce swelling in his arms
and legs. As far as his wife knew, Sayyidov has not been receiving
any medical care since his arrest. Authorities have refused to let
relatives see him, although they agreed to deliver to him care
packages of food and warm clothing. Both his wife and the
independent Ezgulik human rights group have submitted appeals
requesting that Sayyidov be released from pre-trial detention on
health grounds until his trial.

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COMMENT

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8. (C) Of the three journalists, only Abdurakhmanov appears to
have been targeted by provincial authorities because of his
writing, while Usmanov and Sayyidov seem to have run afoul of local
authorities for other reasons. We will continue to follow their
cases closely. One potential opportunity for the United States
government to advocate on behalf of these individuals is to raise
their cases with the Uzbek government in conjunction with a
presentation that OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media
Miklos Haraszti plans to give to the OSCE Permanent Council in
early April (Haraszti delivered a letter to Uzbek OSCE Charge
Yusupov on March 4 raising concern regarding the Usmanov and
Sayyidov cases).
NORLAND