Olimjon Khaidarov

Affiliated media: Blogger

Incident date: December 1, 2023

Attack type:

• Court trial

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Ozodlik.org

Location: Uzbekistan, Fergana

Additional information:

On December 1, the Fergana District Criminal Court sentenced blogger Olimjon Khaidarov to 8 years of prison. The court found him guilty under Part 2 of Article 139 (libel in printed or otherwise reproduced form, including posted in the media, telecommunications networks or the Internet), Paragraph A of Part 3 of Article 139 (libel, connected with accusation of committing a grave or especially grave offence), Paragraph A of Part 3 of Article 140 (insult in connection with the performance by the victim of his official or civil duty), and Paragraph B of Part 2 of Article 165 (extortion on a large scale) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The court also ordered the Enforcement Bureau to block all channels, pages, and groups in social networks belonging to the blogger after the court decision came into legal force. The defence is confident that the investigation and trial against Olimjon Khaidarov are related to his professional activities.