Uzbekistan: prosecutor demands to imprison the blogger for 11 years

On May 4, the final debate on the case of the blogger Otabek Sattoriy was held in District Criminal Court of Muzrabat.

According to the online media Kun.uz, ​​the prosecutor brought charges against Sattoriy in 5 cases, and demanded a sentence of 11 years in prison. He demanded to dismiss 3 of 8 charges against the defendant, and to find him guilty on 5 episodes.

According to the prosecutor, there are no mitigating circumstances, since Otabek Sattoriy didn’t admit the charges brought against him, and didn’t compensate the damage caused to the victims.

On the basis of the requirements of article 33 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the state prosecutor demanded that Otabek Sattoriy be found guilty under paragraph “a” of part 3 of article 165 (“Extortion”), paragraphs “a”, “г” of part 3 of article 139 (“Libel”), paragraph “a” of part 3 of article 165 of the Criminal Code, and to impose a sentence of imprisonment for a term of 10 years on him; and under paragraphs “a”, “г” of part 3 of article 139, to impose a penalty in the form of restriction of freedom for a term of 2 years.

The prosecutor demanded that Otabek Sattoriy be sentenced to 11 years of imprisonment by partial addition of punishments in accordance with articles 59 and 61.

The prosecutor also demanded to invalidate the agreement on the provision of two-room and three-room apartments, concluded between the accused and entrepreneur Tulkin Shopulatov in June 2020, and return the apartments to the entrepreneur. The court postponed the consideration of the case of Otabek Sattoriy until May 10.

Farida Sharif, administrator of Tashkent-demolition Facebook group, notes that “among other accusations made to Otabek Sattoriy, the blogger from Termez, one is absolutely absurd. The prosecutor accuses the blogger of putting pressure on the developer and demanding two apartments, estimated at 700 million sums, for the demolition of his mother and sister’s house. The prosecutor believes that 240 million sums should not have been paid for the house.”

In the media sphere, the case of the provincial blogger Sattoriy is considered as a warning. Otabek criticized the local authorities, always emphasizing his patriotism and dissatisfaction with foreign critics of the regime. At the suggestion of the official Tashkent, the local authorities organized a show trial in order to intimidate even the capital’s journalists and bloggers burdened with self-censorship, whose publications and posts on social networks raise the degree of public discontent with the actions of officials.

In the near future, the President Mirziyoev is to arrive in the region. Earlier, he issued a statement expressing support to journalists and bloggers, asking them to convey the necessary information to the population. During the trial and the investigation, Sattoriy repeatedly tried to use the President’s words of support in his defense, but this didn’t help him much.