A blogger from Fergana, Olimjon Haydarov, was arrested on July 29 during a quick operation by law enforcement agencies on suspicion of committing a crime, the information service of the Fergana regional DIA reported.
Allegedly, on June 12 of this year, he gained the trust of entrepreneurs engaged in informal trade activities in the “Qo‘qon Istiqlol” trade complex, and by arousing a mood of protest in them, posted negative articles about the reconstruction works in the trade complexes on his social network channels.
In addition, the blogger tried to extort money from the officials of “Qo‘qon Istiqlol” trading complex LLC: he demanded fraudulently $10,000 in exchange for not disseminating his article “Is it legal democratic management or sharia management in Kokand?” with negative content on the Internet.
The blogger “was detained by the participants of the operative event while receiving $7,500 in total value and receiving an additional $2,500,” the regional DIA said in a statement.
At present, investigation efforts are being carried out in connection with this case by the Kokand city DIA.
It should be recalled that in December 2022, blogger Olimjon Haydarov was fined 21 million soums for violating the procedure for organizing and holding rallies and spreading false information. After he published a video showing the protest of factory workers in Fergana, 7 workers were arrested. Then, the blogger filed an appeal against the court decision.
