Court postpones hearing in Mubashshir Ahmad case for another four days

The trial of religious scholar Alisher Tursunov, better known as Mubashshir Ahmad, has been postponed until 2 October. According to the defense lawyer, the reason was the judge’s illness. The defendant, who was arrested on 10 May, has been held in custody for nearly five months.

The Uchtepa District Criminal Court announced that the hearing, initially set for 29 September, would now take place on 2 October at 16:00, without specifying a reason. Lawyer Abdulloh Sodiq told Kun.uz that court representatives cited the judge’s illness as the cause.

The hearing was first scheduled for 22 September but was moved to 29 September at 14:00. At that time, the court explained the delay by stating that Judge Bobur Rahimov was attending another meeting, which took longer than expected. Despite this, the scholar himself was brought into the courtroom under police escort, and dozens of citizens were also allowed to attend.

At the fourth session, held on 18 September, state prosecutor and Uchtepa deputy district prosecutor Erkin Narzullaev requested that Mubashshir Ahmad be found guilty under three articles of the Criminal Code. The prosecutor demanded a final sentence of seven years in prison “through partial aggregation of penalties” and a fine equal to 150 times the base calculation unit.

The defense team, meanwhile, asked the court to exclude two charges against Alisher Tursunov – “distribution of materials threatening public security and public order” and “incitement of national, racial, ethnic, or religious hatred.” The lawyers partially acknowledged the charge of distributing materials without approval from the Committee on Religious Affairs but argued that the act no longer posed a social threat. They therefore requested that this charge be dropped under Article 70 of the Criminal Code and that the equipment and items seized during the investigation be returned.

At the session scheduled for 29 September – already the second postponement – Judge Bobur Rahimov was expected to grant the defendant the right to make a final statement before retiring to the deliberation room to issue a verdict.

The 51-year-old Tursunov was detained in Turkey on 8 May this year and deported to Uzbekistan on 10 May. He has been held in custody for nearly five months.

Background

Mubashshir Ahmad has been charged under three articles of the Criminal Code:

• Article 244-3: Illegal production, storage, import, or distribution of materials of religious content;
• Article 244-1: Production, storage, distribution, or display of materials threatening public security and public order;
• Article 156: Incitement of national, racial, ethnic, or religious hatred.

At the first hearing, the judge, at the request of the prosecutor, banned audio, photo, and video recording. However, the trial is being conducted in open session, allowing participation of media representatives and the public.

During the first three hearings, the charges were read out, along with testimony from experts and the scholar himself.