Rustam Tulyaganov, lawyer of Agzam Turgunov, head of the Mazlum human rights organisation, has called the ruling “unjust” and the criminal case “another political order”.
“The verdict is strong,” Tulyaganov said, “and it is so strong because it is groundless. They were charged with extortion but no-one saw the money. Turgunov and Salayev are not guilty which is why they were handed down 10 years’ imprisonment each.”
Turgunov and Salayev were detained after they got involved in a banal conflict between two divorced spouses who tried to divide financial responsibility for upbringing their children.
Muborak Salayeva, sister of Salayev, complained to Turgunov, as a human rights activist, that her ex-husband Oybek Hujoboyev had refused to help her bring up their common children and that they had no place to live, so she wanted him to provide them with housing.
Karakalpakstan’s Beruni District court was to hear a case and divide their property, Tulyaganov said. This means that police and court bodies were aware of this case and they all knew that there was no extortion but the ex-wife’s claims to the ex-husband.
Turgunov’s involvement in this case, Tulyaganov believes, was used by the authorities to get rid of the human rights activist and intimidate the country’s people that this would happen to anyone who demand their rights.
At the same time, the lawyer said that the court had not paid any attention to the fact that boiling water was poured over Turgunov during questioning, although the defence demanded a serious investigation into this incident and punishment for those guilty because they believe it was a form of torture.
This conviction is another proof that crackdown on critics of the regime is continuing in Uzbekistan and that the authorities have not given up the idea of eradicating opponents, turning the country into a silent grave.