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Alisher Karamatov |
Member of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan Alisher Karamatov was released from prison early on 12 April after serving almost six years of a nine-year prison term.
Karamatov was jailed for extortion, along with another member of the society, Azam Farmonov. According to investigators, Karamatov and Farmonov extorted money from farmers in Syrdarya Region for assistance in solving their problems with local officials.
Karamatov’s relatives have repeatedly said that the activist faced violent forms of torture, including being forced to stay naked in the cold. His wife Namuna Karamatova has said the activist’s health worsened badly during his imprisonment.
In 2008 during examination in prison hospital it was established that Karamatov had developed a serious form of tuberculosis in both sides of his lung. On 25 April 2011, Namuna Karamatova appealed to the Uzbek ombudsman with a request to help release her husband early because of his “critical state” of health.
Civil society activist from Tashkent Dilarom Iskhakova does not see signs of the regime’s softening towards human rights activists and political prisoners in Karamatov’s release.
“I will believe that the regime is softening when these cases stop becoming isolated,” she said.
The leader of the Initiative Group of Human Rights Activists of Uzbekistan, Surat Ikramov, does not believe that Uzbekistan has started democratic reforms either.
He thinks the reason for Karamatov’s early release is his poor health and a multitude of online articles about his conviction.
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