Aziz Yusupov

Affiliated media: Independent journalist

Incident date: September 25, 2022

Attack type:

• Criminal/administrative prosecution excluding (1), (2) and (3)

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: IPHR (Belgium)

Location: Uzbekistan, Fergana

Additional information:

On September 25, the journalist Aziz Yusupov, who works closely with human rights organizations, was detained in Fergana and subsequently arrested for three months. Yusupov’s arrest took place shortly before an OSCE conference in Warsaw. This circumstance demonstrated the desire of the authorities to prevent his speech. In it, he allegedly «intended to provide independent information about the human rights situation in Uzbekistan». Human rights organizations report that Yusupov applied for a visa at the Polish embassy, presenting an invitation to attend the conference. Two days after his arrest, on September 27, the Criminal Court of the Fergana region charged him with possession of narcotic drugs under Part 1 of Article 276 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan and sentenced him to three months in prison as a preventive measure.