Khasan Choriev has been in custody since June 17
26.06.13 17:21
The Office of the Prosecutor in the Kashkadaryo region confirmed the arrest of the father of the opposition group “Birdamlik”.
The head investigator for the Kashkadaryo region’s prosecutor’s office confirmed that 71-year-old Khasan Choriev has been in custody since June 17.
During the June 24 conversation with human rights activist Shukhrat Rustamov, the prosecutor specified that Choriev is charged with violating Article 118 of the Criminal Code—“rape”.
Until then authorities had denied any knowledge of what had happened to the elderly Choriev, though it was known that two policemen had taken him from his home on the morning of June 17.
According to the head of the “Birdamlik” opposition group in Uzbekistan, Malokhat Eshankulova, the entire story of Choriev’s arrest and subsequent disappearance “looks like some sort of trick.”
As of the evening of June 23, human rights activists only knew for certain that Choriev had made a phone call in which he had said he had been taken to the town of Karshi and placed under arrest.
News from “Zamondosh”
Human rights workers only learned of Choriev’s arrest for the rape of a woman called Matluba from a questionable article, published on the website Zamondosh, which is reportedly linked to Uzbekistan’s intelligence services.
Someone who introduced himself as Ubaydulla Zhumaev, an attorney, confirmed the information published on the site during a phone call to Choriev’s family.
Found after picketing
On June 24, human rights activists picketed “Kuk Saroy”, the President’s residence in Tashkent, demanding information about Choriev’s whereabouts.
This action helped locate the “missing” old man. Suddenly his state appointed lawyer Ubaydulla Zhumaev made an appearance—he met with Choriev’s family and human rights workers at the office of the regional Chamber of Public Defenders in the town of Karshi.
According to Rustamov, the lawyer gave them a copy of the arrest warrant issued by the Karshi city criminal court.
The warrant is dated June 18. It is even time stamped 20:45.
In the text of the document it is stated that on June 12 Khasan Choriev came to have tea at the apartment of Matluba Abdurakhmanova in the Pakhtazor neighborhood in Karshi, and during this visit he raped the woman.
Choriev’s family confirms that the elderly man did in fact go to Karshi that day – he was invited to “talk to the prosecutor”.
At the same time the lawyer refused to produce such important and basic documents as Abdurakhmanova’s statement, the decision to open a criminal investigation, or prosecutor’s request for the arrest warrant.
To disgrace the old man?
According to human rights activists, Kashkadaryo authorities wanted to complete their investigation in secret and convict the elderly Choriev.
However, because human rights workers and with Choriev’s family searched through the region in an attempt to locate him, leaving missing person’s reports in the hands of law enforcement agencies in every jurisdiction, their plan did not work.
Zhumaev, the public defender, hinted during the phone conversations that the investigation had been completed, but the head of investigations for the Kashkadaryo prosecutor’s office stated that the investigation is ongoing, and that this was the reason he would not allow family members to see Choriev in person.
Human rights activists have little doubt that Choriev’s arrest and rape charge are trumped-up by the Kashkadaryo region intelligence apparatus in an attempt to disgrace the elderly father of the leader of the opposition party “Birdamlik”.
Uznews.net