Blogger Fozilkhodja Orifkhodjayev released

Blogger Fozilkhodja Orifkhodjayev, who was sentenced to 7.5 years of imprisonment, was released early. Abdurakhmon Tashanov, head of the Uzbek “Ezgulik” human rights society, informed about this on December 6.

According to him, the blogger was “conditionally” released from the penal colony in Navoi region.

According to various reports, his sentence of 7.5 years of imprisonment was replaced by a conditional sentence: a part of his salary will be withheld for the benefit of the state. He will be under the supervision of probation officers.

On January 26, 2022, the verdict was read against defendant Fozilkhodja Orifkhodjayev in the Olmazor district court on criminal proceedings. According to it, Fozilkhodja Orifkhodjayev was found guilty of committing the crime envisaged in Article 244-1 of the Criminal Code (preparation, storage, distribution or display of materials that threaten public safety and public order), part 3 g) and sentenced to 7.5 years.

On June 26, 2021, a dispute arose between Abror Abduazimov (Abror Mukhtor Ali) and blogger Fozilkhodja Orifkhodjayev at the Tokhtaboy mosque in Olmazor district.

After that, on the basis of information received from citizens, the Almazor district DIA conducted an investigation and the collected documents were presented to the court. Based on this, the Olmazor district court on criminal proceedings, which considered the case, found F. Orifkhodjayev guilty of committing the offense envisaged in Article 183 (petty hooliganism) of the Administrative Responsibility Code and sentenced him to 15-day administrative imprisonment.

Later, according to the capital’s DIA information service, in the process of investigation, the law enforcement agencies were informed that Fozilkhodja’s phone contained materials of dubious religious content and that he had shown them to other citizens. To clarify the nature of the materials, his phone was seized in procedural order and a theological examination was appointed. According to the conclusion of the Committee on Religious Affairs under the Cabinet of Ministers, some materials posted on the blogger’s Facebook profile were classified as materials promoting religious fanaticism.

On this case, the Investigative Department of the Tashkent city DIA initiated a criminal case against Fozilkhodja Orifkhodjayev under Article 244-1-3, Paragraph “g” of the Criminal Code (preparation, storage, distribution or display of materials that threaten public safety and public order).