Uznews, Nukus, 31 Aug 2008 – The Karakalpak prosecutor’s office has sent the case of journalist and human rights activist Salijon Abdurahmanov to Karakalpakstan’s Supreme Court, endorsing charges of selling drugs brought against him.
Karakalpak Deputy Prosecutor M Kurbanbayev gave a new development to the case of Abdurahmanov, Uznews.net’s correspondent in Karakalpakstan who was detained on 7 June, by endorsing charges brought against him and sent it to the Karakalpak Supreme Court.
However, the date of his trial has not yet been set. His lawyer and brother Bahrom Abdurahmanov believes that this will take place after Independence Day celebrations on 1 September.
The Uzbek government has adopted a custom not to solve important problems during Independence Day celebrations, including problems relating to persecuting dissidents to avoid protests not to spoil their mood.
He said that when Salijon’s documents had got stuck in the prosecutor’s office for a long time he hoped that prosecutors would realise that the guilt of the journalist and human rights activist had not been proven and there were a number of reasons for questioning charges brought against him.
For example, investigators had not even produced his fingerprints from a package of drugs found in his car.
Salijon Abdurahmanov, 58, was arrested on 7 June when traffic police stopped his car to check documents and found 114.18 g of marijuana and 5.89 g of opium.
He was first charged with storing and using drugs without the aim of selling them but when a medical test showed that he did not use drugs this charge was replaced with charges of illegal selling drugs.
Police failed to prove that he sold drugs, which is why he is now accused of attempting to commit crime as if he was going to sell drugs. According to the law, attempting to commit crime envisages same punishment as committing crime. This means Abdurahmanov is facing a prison term ranging between 10 to 20 years.
The journalist himself has been denying his guilt but he is not surprised or shocked about this situation, his lawyer said. “He is a good journalist and he knows modern Uzbekistan very well and that by doing good journalism in Uzbekistan now you are risking your freedom,” Bahrom Abdurahmanov said.
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