The Judicial Board for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan is set to review appeals from convicts involved in the events of the last year in Karakalpakstan, according to the Supreme Court’s press service.
The date for the appeal hearing will be announced shortly.
As reported in late March, 16 of the 22 convicts and their attorneys filed appeals against the initial court ruling. Among the appellants are journalist and lawyer Dauletmurat Tajimuratov, former head of the Karakalpakstan Interior Ministry’s criminal investigation department, the late Polat Shamshetov, Saiypnazar Kalimov, Sultanbek Kaipov, and others.
Sergei Mayorov, attorney for Simay Kom and representing Dauletmurat Tajimuratov, stated that his client was temporarily moved from a prison in the Bukhara region to Tashkent’s Detention Center №1 at the beginning of April in preparation for the upcoming appeal process.
Mayorov has recently reached out to President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Prosecutor General Nigmatilla Yuldashev, Interior Minister Pulat Bobojonov, and human rights activists concerning Tajimuratov’s incarceration.
In his address, Mayorov mentioned that after Tajimuratov’s transfer to Tashkent on April 6, his head was “shaved clean.” He emphasized that the verdict against Tajimuratov has not yet been enforced, and he should not be considered a criminal until proven guilty, referring to him as a “political prisoner.”
The attorney also pointed out that his client is compelled to “clean his cell without being provided with a broom, rag, or bucket.”
On January 31, Dauletmurat Tajimuratov was found guilty of multiple offenses, including conspiracy to seize power or overthrow the constitutional order, large-scale theft, money laundering, organizing mass disorder, and resisting authority with the use or threat of weapons. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
