Malokhat Eshankulova, an independent journalist from Uzbekistan, was unable to fly to Warsaw, where the OSCE Human Rights Conference began today.
According to Malokhat Eshankulova, a 52-year-old independent journalist and activist from Uzbekistan, the criminal case that was unexpectedly brought against her became an occasion for the authorities not to let her go to Warsaw.
Today in the Polish capital the two-week Conference of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on the human dimension has begun.
Eshankulova says that she learned about the criminal case on September 4, when she was summoned to the Mirzo-Ulugbek police department of Tashkent. As it turned out, she was charged under two articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan: 139 – “Slander” and 140 – “Insult”.
“The case against me was opened because of my publication about the illegal demolition of a house by the khokim of Zaamin district (Jizzakh region). After the publication of this article, on June 11, I was abducted in Tashkent, put in a black car without license plates and taken to the police department of the Jizzakh region, ”she said.
Now, in Mirzo-Ulugbek district police department of Tashkent, Malohat reported a ban on her travel outside of Uzbekistan.
Despite copies of Eshankulova’s demands, no copies of the decisions were provided to her. Failed to achieve and change preventive measures.
“They had no right to initiate a criminal case against me, since by law this can only be done after a person has been convicted under an administrative procedure. But I was not brought to administrative responsibility, ”the activist says.
Malohat does not hide that he knows the true reason why law enforcement officers remembered her material.
“I believe that this criminal case was instituted by order of officials of the highest bodies of the state in order to prevent my participation in this meeting,” the journalist is sure.
She considers the incident as a gross violation of her constitutional rights and sent an appeal to the UN Secretary General, diplomatic missions of foreign countries in Uzbekistan, as well as international human rights organizations with a request to protect journalists and human rights defenders from prosecution.
Source:Center-1
