In Uzbekistan, former political prisoner, military serviceman Chuyan Mamatkulov has been deprived of freedom again. This was reported by human rights activist Abdurakhman Tashanov.
Mamatkulov was sentenced this year by the Dehkanabad district court of Kashkadarya region to 5 years in prison. The court charged him under Part 2 of Article 266 of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan - violation of traffic safety rules.
The incident underlying this charge is a car accident. However, human rights activists and lawyers point to a number of contradictions in this case. They emphasize that evidence was fabricated during the investigation and that the proceedings were conducted in a one-sided manner.
Mamatkulov's lawyers requested that his trial be held in another region, but the Supreme Court did not take these appeals into consideration.
Chuyan Mamatkulov was imprisoned for 10 years in 2012 after being charged with 8 serious articles following his attempt to sue Uzbekistan's first president Islam Karimov. He served most of his sentence in Jaslyk - a prison that became symbolic for political prisoners during Karimov's era.
In 2018, amid political reforms in the country, Mamatkulov was released early and later acquitted. He tried to rebuild his life, and the state paid him 60 million soums in compensation. However, fate has once again opened prison doors for him.
"He endured nearly 7 years in prison, things were going well... But such is fate," says Abdurakhman Tashanov, head of the "Ezgulik" society.
Mamatkulov's arrest demonstrates that despite recent reforms in Uzbekistan's judicial system, individuals with a political past still remain under threat.
