Gayrat Aberayev

Affiliated media: Taftish.uz, Former editor

Incident date: November 7, 2023

Attack type:

• arrest in absentia

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Gazeta.uz

Location: Uzbekistan, Tashkent

Additional information:

On November 7, the Bukhara Region Prosecutor’s Office announced a criminal case against journalist Gayrat Aberayev, accusing him of «fraud and attempted bribery». The court ordered the former head of the media outlet Taftish.uz to be taken into custody. The prosecutor’s office gave him 10 days to appear before law enforcement agencies, otherwise he will be put on a wanted list. Shortly after publication, the text in the Telegram channel of the Prosecutor’s Office was deleted. The office promised to republish it after the amendments were made. In an earlier version of the message, the journalist was accused of receiving more than USD 33,000 over the past three years. He allegedly promised to solve the problems of citizens — in particular, for assistance in returning grazing land and release from possible imprisonment.