Dilmurod SaidovUzbekistan

Dilmurod Saidov, 49, is a prominent Uzbek journalist and human rights activist who has been wrongly detained in Uzbekistan since 2009 on fabricated extortion and forgery charges. Prior to his detention, his articles appeared in many local newspapers, and were published by Internet news agencies such as Voice of Freedom and Uznews.net.

Mr. Saidov was a member of the human rights organization Ezgulik and has been defending farmer’s rights against government corruption in Samarkand since 2004. As a journalist, Mr. Saidov has written many critical articles about the government, accusing authorities of corruption and asserting that their corrupt dealings are impoverishing the region’s farmers.

Mr. Saidov was arrested on extortion charges on February 22, 2009 on the basis of a statement made by a head of the Agricultural Equipment and Tractor Park in Samarkand who claimed that Mr. Saidov had sought to extort US$15,000 from him. Authorities added a second charge of extortion in March and a charge of forgery in April.

The investigation and trial were plagued with inconsistencies and violations of fair trial standards. Before and during trial, several witnesses rescinded their testimony against Mr. Saidov and reported that they had been pressured to make false allegations against him. Furthermore, court hearings were repeatedly conducted without notice to Mr. Saidov’s defense lawyer.

Despite these procedural deficiencies, on July 30, 2009, Mr. Saidov was convicted and sentenced to twelve and a half years in prison. Mr. Saidov’s conviction has been upheld twice on appeal and the Supreme Court has dismissed his request for review.

Mr. Saidov suffers from acute tuberculosis and is currently being held in a special facility for tuberculosis inmates, called TB Zone #36. According to his family, Mr. Saidov’s health is deteriorating and he is in need of urgent medical treatment. During his detention, he has been subjected to poor prison conditions and psychotropic drugs. Adding to his hardships are the deaths of his wife and five year old daughter who were killed in a car accident in 2010.

The U.S. State Department as well as many human rights organizations including, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists have called for Mr. Saidov’s release.

Freedom Now represents Mr. Saidov as his international pro bono legal counsel.

Selected documents from Dilmurod Saidov’s case

Petition to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary DetentionMarch 1, 2012Submitted by Freedom Now on behalf of Dilmurod Saidov.

Joint Letter to Secretary Clinton September 27, 2011Joint letter from Freedom Now and 19 other organizations calling on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to stand behind past statements and hold Uzbekistan accountable for its gross human rights violations.

Some Straight Talk for a Washington VisitorSeptember 8, 2011Huffington Post op-ed by Patrick Griffith of Freedom Now and Steve Swerdlow of Human Rights Watch calling on the United States to reinforce the message that it supports a democratic Uzbekistan that respects the rights of all its citizens during talks with the Uzbek Deputy Foreign Minister in Washington.