Husband of rights activist assaulted in Andijan.

Gulbahor Turayeva; photo: ferghana.ru

Uznews.net – The husband of human rights activist Gulbahor Turayeva who was pardoned and released was violently beaten up in Andijan on 25 July. This attack is a result of a campaign launched against Turayeva’s family, the Initiative Group of Independent Human Rights Activists of Uzbekistan believes.

The group said that Turayeva’s husband Farit Yangildin was attacked outside his home in Andijan’s residential area on the night of 25 July.

His neighbours Dmitriy Yakubovich and Vladimir Akulshin beat him up and demanded that he and his family move out from Andijan within 15 days, threatened with consequences if he refuses.

The group’s head Surat Ikramov said that Turayeva, her husband and five children had become victims of persecution from their neighbours who call them “enemies of the people” and openly demand their relocation.

Ikramov believes that local police officers ordered neighbours to terrorist the family.

His assumption is confirmed by police’s refusal to investigate the case even though Yangildin received injuries and had a tooth broken. Officer Azimov even refused to record the crime.

Gulbahor Turayeva, a former pathologist and head of the Anima Kor human rights organisation, became famous after investigating cases of hysterectomy in Andijan Region in 2005 in order to control births.

During the Andijan events Turayeva witnessed the massacre by saying that he had seen about 500 bodies piled up in a school playground in the town.

In January 2007 she was detained while trying to import books written by the opposition Erk party from Kyrgyzstan. In April 2007 she was jailed for six years on charges of attempting to overthrow Uzbekistan’s constitutional system, producing and distributing materials threatening public security and order and creating, heading and taking part in religious, extremist and other banned organisations.

However, the government pardoned her in May 2007 after the EU put pressure on Uzbekistan while considering the abolition of sanctions imposed on the country for the Andijan massacre.

In June a court of appeal pardoned her and the sentence was replaced with a three-year suspended term.

In return for this, Turayeva agreed to criticise Uzbek well-known journalists and human rights activists, saying that they were immoral and corrupt.

The official media presented her release as “another act of humanism” by the Uzbek government.

Their reaction to the assault on Turayeva’s husband and the campaign against them is yet to be seen