The health of Salijon Abdurahmonov…

Uznews.net – The health of Salijon Abdurahmonov, a journalist imprisoned 14 months ago under police-invented charges in Karakalpakstan, has severely deteriorated. He feels sick, emaciated and has grown weaker and older, his relatives have said.

Salijon Abdurahmanov’s brothers, Shukurjon and Botir Abdurahmanovs, his wife and son today returned from Karshi, where they visited their imprisoned relative.

They said that this time Salijon looked very sick, much weaker and older.

Because of bad- quality water, he started suffering from allergy all over his body. He is covered with red rash, which is leaving deep scars even after healing, his son said.

“He was sent to the prison hospital to undergo treatment of his allergy for a short period but this did not help him. I found out that he was promised to be sent to Sangorod (a prison hospital) in Tashkent but this did not happen either,” Salijon’s son said.

Speaking about how his mother and other relatives worry about Salijon Abdurahmanov’s health, another son of the journalist, Davron, complained bitterly that the authorities put Salijon behind bars on invented charges and at the same time, deprived their family of the chance to defend and acquit Salijon.

Abdurahmanov’s two lawyers, his brother Bahrom and a lawyer from Tashkent, Rustam Tulyaganov, both have been deprived of their licences after they failed the test of lawyers’ qualifications in April this year.

“My father cannot stay in custody, he is completely innocent, he is the most honest and decent man and he taught us the same,” Davron said, and added, “At the same time, he is strong and spiritually firm but obviously, no one has enough strength against the prison. He is 60 but he always looked younger but now he looks his age if not older….”

Abdurahmanov’s brother and former lawyer today told the news agency that he was trying to find a new lawyer. But so far, having studied the case materials, none of the lawyers that they applied to have agreed to defend him, saying “this case smells of politics” and they should better stay away from politics.

Abdurahmanov was arrested in June 2008 when drugs were found in the trunk of his car during a search. However, neither the investigating authorities nor the court proved that the drugs belonged to him and that he was involved in any drug-related crimes.

Nevertheless, in October 2008, the court in Karakalpakstan sentenced Abdurahmanov to 10 years in prison on charges of attempting drug sale in big amounts.

The Supreme Court of Karakalpakstan considered two appeals against this court decision and upheld the ruling without giving any explanation.

Uznews.net