Uzbekistan deprives civil rights convict…

Uznews.net – Samarkand-based human rights activist Norboy Holjigitov, 61, has been driven by Uzbek jailers to serious condition because as a diabetes patient he is not receiving treatment and cannot even walk now, the Dublin-based Front Line human rights organisation has said.

Front Line said that Holjigitov, who was sentenced to 10 years in 2005, was now in serious condition at Karshi’s UYa 64/49 prison. Relatives of the activist visited him prison recently and let the organisation know about his state.

Since he did not receive treatment in prison sugar levels in his blood had damaged his mobility. He needs assistance now.

Relatives told Front Line that the activist looked much worse now than he looked previously. He has lost all his teeth but one and is now suffering from depression, relatives said.

Holjigitov, head of the Ishtihan branch of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, was arrested after the authorities launched a campaign against human rights activists following the massacre in Andijan on 13 May 2005.

Abdujalil Boymatov, head of the society, says that 17 of members of his society were arrested after the Andijan massacre and nine of them are still in prison.

“Holjigitov is being held in prison because he was very popular in Ishtihan District. When he was detained about 400 people held a protest action. The authorities are worried about his influence on people,” Boymatov said.

He became a human rights activist after he witnesses the violations of farmers’ rights in his district, Boymatov explained. Boymatov thinks that Holjigitov should be released because he was a patriot of his country and fought for the rights of his people.