The former head of the Rakatboshi Citizens’ Assembly (Tashkent) threatened to kill the leader of the Open Line group, Tatyana Dovlatova after a criminal case was opened against him.
The human rights activist sought this for several years after she convicted Sattor Rakhimov of misappropriation of budgetary funds and illegal use of real estate on the territory of the assembly. The court will clarify the amount of damage if the authorities decide to hold meetings right before the celebration of Independence Day.
“He always felt impunity, but this time he will not get away with either boorish behavior or corruption,” Dovlatova notes.
The ACCA editors have at their disposal an audio recording and a transcript of the conversation dated August 2, in which the phrase “If I will meet her, I will kill or strangle this bitch” is the calmest. In addition, the last argument of the person under investigation was the assertion that “this mahalla (gathering of citizens – ed.) was created for the Uzbek people, and not for these Uruses.”
On August 15, the human rights activist registered her letter with the circumstances of the situation with the State Security Service, attaching an audio recording. The department promised to give an answer within three days.
Dovlatova intends to seek justice by evaluating Rakhimov’s actions under three articles of the Criminal Code – 112 (Threat to kill or use violence), 140 (Insult), and 156 (Inciting national, racial, ethnic, or religious hatred).
Earlier, ACCA wrote about Rakhimov’s attack on Dovlatova while she was streaming on a social network. The attack was coolly ignored by law enforcement officers standing nearby.
During the live broadcast, several men surrounded her, and then the incident occurred. Tatyana notes that “the officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, standing nearby, did not even try to intervene and stop the aggressor.” In her opinion, only the transmission of the video online prevented a real beating.
“In 2018, at my request, the election of the chairman of the citizens’ gathering, which Rakhimov allegedly won, was declared illegal by the court, but without consequences,” says Dovlatova. “Until recently, he still held this position with high patronage, despite numerous protests from our initiative group.”
“Judging by how long Rakhimov worked after the court verdict, one can judge the weighty support at the highest level. “Rakatboshi” is one of the oldest mahallas of the capital, where influential people live. That is why the threats to take the life of a human rights activist are serious, they cannot be ignored,” the ACCA expert comments.
As ACCA has already reported, in recent years, Dovlatova has had to fight off claims for libel, hooliganism, and other “administrative violations” nine times. Often she had to look for money to pay fines. In the end, she even had to sell the apartment. In one of the complaints staged by the security forces, there was a demand that “since Dovlatova is a human rights activist, she should be placed in a psychiatric hospital.”
