Court finds Nurkhon Nafasov’s dismissal unlawful

On August 27, the Shaykhantakhur inter-district civil court in Tashkent issued a decision on the dismissal of the former chairman of Uzbekistan’s Karate Federation Nurkhon Nafasov.

According to a Kun.uz correspondent, the court declared the meeting of September 26, 2018 and the order of September 27, 2018 unlawful. The counterclaim from the defendant – the National Karate Federation of Uzbekistan has not been satisfied. The parties have been explained the procedure for appealing against the court decision.

At the same time, the Mirzo-Ulugbek district court on criminal proceedings continues to consider the merits of the case against Nurkhon Nafasov and others on charges of committing crimes under Articles 167 (Part 3, Paragraph “a” – theft by appropriation or embezzlement on a large scale) and 165 (Part 1 – extortion).

It should be recalled that in May 2018, Nurkhon Nafasov, after a 12-year hiatus, returned to the leadership of the Karate Federation of Uzbekistan. But in September, he was dismissed and criminal proceedings were instituted against him and other employees of the federation.

In January 2019, a material, defaming the name of Nurkhon Nafasov, was published on the official website of the National Olympic Committee. In the article under the heading “Misconduct of Nurkhon Nafasov exposed”, the followings were reported:

“A criminal case has been initiated against the former Chairman of the Karate Federation of Uzbekistan Nurkhon Nafasov under Articles 167 (Part 3, Paragraph “a” – theft by appropriation or embezzlement on a large scale) and 165 (Part 1 – extortion).

During the investigation, an audit was conducted, as a result of which the initial information about the theft and embezzlement of funds was confirmed.

In particular, from the date of his appointment as head of the federation – May 16, 2018 to October 2018, a total of 125 million 557 thousand soums were misappropriated. Also, forgery of documents, extortion, not capitalization of membership fees to the cashier of the federation were observed”.

The Russian version of the article reported that Nurkhon Nafasov had previously been prosecuted.

The Prosecutor General’s Office responded to this article, reminding the NOC of the presumption of innocence.

After his dismissal, Nurkhon Nafasov filed a lawsuit in the Shaykhantakhur inter-district civil court to invalidate the protocol of the federation’s meeting, held on September 26, 2018 and order No.1 of September 27, 2018.