Mother of the boy who is imprisoned for sharing nasheed appeals to President Mirziyoyev

In 2022, 21-year-old Jahongir Ulugmurodov shared a religious song on YouTube with his friends in a Telegram group. According to the conclusion of the Committee on Religious Affairs, the nasheed was found to be "infused with ideas of fanaticism".

On May 8, Jahongir Ulugmurodov was found guilty of committing the crime under Article 244-1, Part 3, Clause "g" of the Criminal Code. However, the court applied Article 57 against him and sentenced Ulugmurodov to 3 years of imprisonment.

His mother appealed to the president and the Supreme Court.

“He didn’t know it was a banned material. He thought it was just a song”

I am Gulchehra Umarova, Jahongir’s mother. He is my eldest child and definitely not a bad boy. He studies at the university. I trust him and he is my pride.

I work in a hospital, and my husband works in landscaping… It was mid-autumn; I returned from my shift and went to sleep. After a while, my children woke me up, saying that two people had come. When I went out, they introduced themselves, told me that there was a robbery at the country house and asked me if Jahongir was my son. I answered their questions, told them that my son studies, works and comes in the evening. I told them that he was not a robber for sure. However, they said, “We heard one of the thieves calling his partner Jahon, so we are collecting data about all the boys with this name in the neighborhood.” I called my son and told him what I heard.

He was at work; he went to the place they said. They left, in the meantime, I made a lot of phone calls, but no one answered. At around 12 o'clock, his friend's mother came and said, "Do you know what your son has done?" I took her inside; I didn't understand what was happening. They were saying, "Nasheed, nasheed". I didn’t even know what it meant. My knowledge of religion is rather limited, I would say.

Jahongir came home in a few hours. I asked him what was going on. He kept saying, "I know nothing either. I listened to a song. It was just a song."

His father was angry and told me that it was my mistake to support him to pursue higher education. "You ruined the child," he said...

"We couldn't afford to hire a lawyer ourselves"

On February 24, I was at work and came home in the evening […] They called Jahongir and he went. At 11:30 in the evening, he called me and said, "They will keep me here for 48 hours, don’t worry." The next day, a man called, saying he was a state lawyer appointed to my son. He stated that we could find another lawyer if we wanted.

After that day, I did not see my son in public. I saw him only twice during the investigation. We were told the lawyer would call us, but the lawyer did not. They only called to say that the investigation had been completed. After that, I only saw the trial, there were two trials. I gave 3 million soums to the lawyer appointed by the state for the investigation and 3 million soums for attending the court. We cannot afford to hire a lawyer ourselves. I met with a lawyer before the trial. He told me, "I can do nothing to prevent him from going to prison, I can only reduce his term."

"The neighborhood vouched for my son"

We entered the court; I saw my child. All the children who were investigated told the same thing about what they knew. Everyone had the same statement. The judge asked the children, "Have you heard this song before?". The children said that they had not listened to it before. The only time they listened to the song was when the investigators played it during the investigation.

The neighborhood said from the beginning that they would vouch for my son. "This boy is not guilty of anything, he should not be imprisoned for one song," they insisted on bail. My son’s teacher also vouched for him. I went to the institute myself and got a description of my child, the employees of the place of work – the Qamar store did not say anything bad about him.

"I do not wish what I am experiencing today even to my enemies"

He was charged with Article 244-1, Part 3, Clause "G" of the Criminal Code.

Is there anyone who can hear my pain? God will forgive his servant if he does something bad and repents. My son apologized in the courtroom. Is it humane or just to imprison him for 3 years? Don’t they have children of their own?

There is a lot of talk about justice, if there really is justice, I am asking you, the honorable president and the Supreme Court, to help me, to give my son another chance. This opportunity will be given not only to my son but also to me. I do not wish what I am experiencing today even to my enemies.