[ad_1]
Agzam Turgunov. Photo: Timur Karpov, Fergana
*Update: Agzam Turgunov was released after he produced a receipt indicating he was ready to go to the police station after the initial call.
On November 30, Agzam Turgunov, leader of the human rights organization “Mazlum” (“The Oppressed”), was detained in Tashkent. Police escorted him from the court building where the activist’s appeal was pending. Nadezhda Atayeva, president of the Central Asian Human Rights Association (AHRCA, France), spoke to Fergana about the incident.
“At the end of the meeting, Judge Hasanov began to insult him and threateningly accused him of slandering Uzbekistan and telling lies everywhere. Then he called a squad and Turgunov was taken to the Fourth Department of Internal Affairs,” the human rights activist said. She added that Turgunov plans to fly to the United States tonight to meet with some public and political figures seeking his release.
Turgunov’s appeal, which was considered today, was filed in response to a court ruling in late summer after the human rights activist was charged for taking photos near the building of the Uzbek Supreme Court. According to the American Human Rights AssociationOn August 29, about 100 people gathered in front of the Supreme Court building, hoping to achieve a review of the court proceedings. On the same day, Turgunov came to the Supreme Court to learn about the handling of his complaint there. Seeing how rudely the law enforcement officers treated the gathered people, he tried to take a few photos. Soon, three men in plain clothes approached him. Without showing any identification, they tried to confiscate his mobile phone, then forcibly took him into a car and took him to the police station. He stayed there for more than four hours, and all the photos he took were destroyed. On August 30, the Administrative Court of the Shaykhontokhur District of Tashkent fined Turgunov the monthly minimum wage (172,240 soums or $21) under Article 194 (“Failure to comply with the legal request of the police”) of the Administrative Code of Uzbekistan. The human rights activist paid the fine but appealed the court’s decision.
Previously, Turgunov often served as a public defender in court cases involving violations of rights and freedoms. He was arrested in July 2008 and convicted of extortion in October and sentenced to 10 years in prison. International human rights organization Human Rights Watch called the sentence politically motivated. While in the colony, Turgunov continued his human rights activism, advising convicts on how to reduce their prison terms. His freed October 2017. Learn more about Turgunov’s life interview Fergana, released shortly after his release.
[ad_2]
Source link
