(CJES/IFEX) – A CJES correspondent has been sentenced to three months in prison on spurious criminal charges. On 22 January 2007, Uzbek journalist and human rights defender Umida Niyazova was arrested and taken to the pre-trial detention unit in the Uzbek city of Andijan. She was detained for four days. On 26 January, she was […]
(CJES/IFEX) – A CJES correspondent has been sentenced to three months in prison on spurious criminal charges.
On 22 January 2007, Uzbek journalist and human rights defender Umida Niyazova was arrested and taken to the pre-trial detention unit in the Uzbek city of Andijan. She was detained for four days. On 26 January, she was handed over to the Office for Prosecution of Transport Offenses in Tashkent.
A month earlier, on 21 December 2006, Niyazova’s computer and passport were confiscated upon her arrival from Kyrgyzstan to the Tashkent airport in Uzbekistan. The customs officials said her computer contained illegal material. She was forced to flee Uzbekistan.
Niyazova turned to the UN in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) for protection. The Kyrgyz immigration services registered her as a person in need of protection.
Niyazova’s lawyer, Abror Iusupov, insisted on her return to Uzbekistan. However, she was arrested upon arrival. The Office for Prosecution of Transport Offences in Uzbekistan initiated a criminal case against Niyazova for violation of articles 233 (“illegal border-crossing”) and 246 (“illegal transportation of information material”) of the criminal code. She was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment.
Niyasova has worked for CJES since 2000, and with the Central Asian internet magazine “Oasis” since 2005. She has also worked for Internews Uzbekistan and Freedom House, and as a translator for Human Rights Watch.
CJES had an agreement with Niyazova not to reveal that she worked with the organisation, but the threats to her freedom and health now force it to break the silence.
CJES demands Niyazova’s immediate release and urges its colleagues in international organizations to raise their voices in her defence.
