On the evening of August 9, officers of the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan detained a journalist from Uzbekistan Bobomurod Abdullayev in one of the capital’s restaurants. His lawyer Timur Karabaev told ACCA about this.
He said that Bobomurod Abdullayev was detained on Sunday, August 9, at about 18:15 Bishkek time, near the place where he temporarily lived.
“It happened when he was going to have dinner at the Vecherny Frunze restaurant. I am his duty lawyer for guaranteed state aid. Since when a person is detained, our procedural legislation requires the obligatory presence of a defender, ”says Timur Karabaev.
He noted that his client complained that at the time of his arrest, operational officers of the State Committee for National Security did not allow him to make a call to his lawyer.
“Currently he is in the temporary detention center of the State Committee for National Security. We were promised to schedule a session in the Pervomaisky court for today, where the further fate of my client will be decided. However, according to the law, the court can be appointed within 45 hours, ”added the lawyer.
According to Karabaev, Bobomurod Abdullayev was detained by the State Committee for National Security under an international request from Uzbekistan from the National Security Service.
“For some reason, they took from us a signature on non-disclosure of investigative secrets, although this is not a procedural action within the framework of our criminal procedure legislation. From the beginning, a case should be initiated, witnesses questioned. There is essentially no such secret, but I can say a case has been opened against him and there is a decision of the Uzbek court on the absentee applying of a preventive measure in the form of detention, ”the lawyer said.
Now the defense is waiting for the case to be submitted to the court, where the feasibility of detention will be decided. According to Timur Karabaev’s words, his client entered the territory of Kyrgyzstan legally and did not violate the laws of the Kyrgyz Republic.
“We will ask that a preventive measure not related to imprisonment be chosen against him,” Karabayev stressed.
According to the lawyer, his client applied for asylum and until this issue is considered, the authorities cannot transfer the journalist to the Uzbek side.
We add that Bobomurod Abdullaev flew to Kyrgyzstan from Germany at the invitation of the American University of Central Asia and Soros Kyrgyzstan for training. After completing the courses, Abdullayev was unable to fly back due to the closure of the state borders of Kyrgyzstan due to the coronavirus pandemic.
ACCA has learned that the Uzbek special services have been constantly interested in the whereabouts and activities of the journalist who left the country last year. This caused great concern for Bobomurod, which he shared with colleagues and human rights organizations.
The Tashkent lawyer Sergey Mayorov sent a request to the Yakkasaray District Department of Internal Affairs of the city of Tashkent and the State Security Service of Uzbekistan to learn about the possible initiation of a new criminal case against the journalist. In the reply of the department, it was reported that no criminal case is initiated against Abdullaev. The State Security Service noted that they didn’t receive any statements or complaints against Abdullaev.
In September 2017, he was detained in Tashkent by officers of the Uzbek special services. Abdullayev was accused of the authorship of Internet publications under the pseudonym Usman Khaknazarov, allegedly aimed at overthrowing the constitutional order in Uzbekistan.
In March 2018, Bobomurod Abdullaev admitted that he used this pseudonym to publish critical articles, but denied the authorship of materials calling for violence.
The prosecutor asked the court to sentence Abdullayev to five years in prison. On May 7, 2018, by the Tashkent City Criminal Court, Abdullaev was found guilty of committing a crime under paragraph “b” of Part 1 of Article 159 (Encroachment on the Constitutional System of the Republic of Uzbekistan) of the Criminal Code.
The court sentenced Bobomurod Abdullayev to one and a half years of forced labor with a deduction of 20% of his salary and ordered his release in the courtroom. Reputable international organizations welcomed the release of journalist Bobomurod Abdullayev.
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