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From: Human Rights Watch, hrwpress@hrw.org
Uzbekistan: Activist From Andijan Released on Parole
(New York, June 15, 2007) – A court in Uzbekistan's Andijan province
released human rights defender Gulbahor Turaeva on parole, Human Rights
Watch said today. On June 12, an appeals court commuted her six-year prison
term, handed down by a lower court in April, to a six-year suspended
sentence.
"We are enormously relieved that Gulbahor Turaeva is with her family and
her four children again," said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia
director at Human Rights Watch. "She should never have been jailed in the
first place."
On April 24, Turaeva was tried and convicted on politically motivated
charges of so-called anti-constitutional activities, slander, and producing
and spreading materials that threaten public order. Two weeks later, on May
7, Turaeva was convicted on additional slander charges in a second trial
and sanctioned with a fine in addition to her prison term.
The charges in the first trial were based on allegations that Turaeva had
brought into Uzbekistan a number of books by exiled opposition leader
Muhammed Solih that are unofficially prohibited by the Uzbek authorities.
The Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Affairs information agency (Jahon) published
a statement claiming all the proceedings brought against Turaeva had been
within the law. The statement also included some of Turaeva's testimony to
the appeals court, in which she "confessed" to her "crimes," renounced work
she had done as a human rights defender, and denounced her colleagues.
"The authorities insist that Turaeva's prosecution had no political
motivation, but the references in the statement to her human rights work
and affiliations belie this," said Cartner. "We're more convinced than ever
that she was prosecuted and imprisoned unjustly."
In addition to her suspended sentence and three-year probation period,
Turaeva was ordered to pay a fine of 648,000 som (about US$515). Human
Rights Watch was unable to confirm the terms of Turaeva's probation.
At least 13 other human rights defenders remain in custody in Uzbekistan on
politically motivated charges ranging from "anti-state activities" and
slander to extortion.
"We urge the Uzbek government to free them at once," said Cartner. "And we
call on Uzbekistan's international partners to demand their unconditional
release."
For additional Human Rights Watch reporting on Uzbekistan, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/doc?t=europe&c=uzbeki
For more information, please contact:
In Hamburg, Andrea Berg (English, German, Russian): +49-163-760-9963
(mobile)
In New York, Rachel Denber (English, Russian): +1-212-216-1266
**The information contained in this autolist item is the sole
responsibility of Human Rights Watch**
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