Uzbek journalist Bobomurod Abdullayev (C), was allowed to leave police custody, poses for a picture with relatives and supporters in Tashkent, Uzbekistan May 7, 2018. REUTERS/Mukhammadsharif Mamatkulov
May 7, 2018
TASHKENT (Reuters) – An Uzbek court cleared a journalist of charges of conspiracy against the government, released him and ordered investigations into “violations” during his detention on Monday, after a trial closely monitored by rights groups.
Bobomurod Abdullayev was convicted of a lesser charge of anti-government propaganda but sentenced only to community service.
“I am extremely glad that I have come out of there alive, Abdullayev told reporters, after the hearing which rights campaigners had described as a test of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s promised liberal reforms.
“I thank Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the court,” Abdullayev added.
The journalists’ lawyer had told court in March that Abdullayev had been beaten, deprived of sleep and put in solitary confinement during the investigation.
On Monday, the court ordered the state security service to look into “violations” during the investigation process – a marked departure from the days of Mirziyoyev’s predecessor, Islam Karimov, when courts routinely dismissed torture complaints.
Abdullayev, 44, was accused of publishing – under the pen name Usman Haknazarov – stories criticizing the government on a website run by exiled opposition politicians. Under his real name, he is best known as a sports reporter.
Stories with Haknazarov’s byline have been appearing for about 14 years, long before President Mirziyoyev came to power in 2016 promising to liberalize the tightly-controlled former Soviet republic.
His predecessor Karimov ran Uzbekistan for 27 years until his death.
(Reporting by Mukhammadsharif Mamatkulov; writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Andrew Heavens)
