Miraziz Bazarov charged with libel and at risk of attack from non-state actors

The Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA) and International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) are concerned that the blogger Miraziz Bazarov, an outspoken critic of government policies and the human rights situation in Uzbekistan, stands charged with “libel”. On 29 April the court placed him under house arrest with strict limits on his contact with the outside world. The 29-year-old blogger is believed to be at risk of violent attacks by non-state actors.

AHRCA and IPHR reiterate calls on the Uzbekistani authorities to protect Bazarov’s right to freedom of expression and opinion and stop any attempts to prosecute him for exercising these fundamental rights. The groups previously issued similar calls in a joint statement  with Amnesty International, Freedom House, Freedom Now, Justice for Journalists, Norwegian Helsinki Committee and Reporters without Borders published on 28 April 2021. The organisations have urged the authorities to protect Miraziz Bazarov, his mother and his girlfriend, who have received numerous anonymous threats of violence including death threats in recent weeks from non-state actors. Concern for their safety is heightened by the fact that the address where Bazarov has been placed under house arrest has been published online by unknown individuals.

In the evening of 28 April 2021, Tashkent City Police interrogate Miraziz Bazarov while he was being treated for injuries sustained in an attack by unknown men on 28 March 2021 in the Republican Clinical Hospital No.1. In the presence of Bazarov’s lawyer, the investigator questioned the young blogger about issues including content of his social media posts. During the interrogation Bazarov was informed that he was charged with “libel via mass media for selfish or other base motives” under Article 139, part 3g of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan, which carries punishments of up to three years’ imprisonment.

On 30 April 2021 the Tashkent City Police Department reported on its website that it had received 28 complaints from citizens about Miraziz Bazarov’s social media posts. One of them was a complaint from several school teachers of school no. 110 in the capital’s Mirabad District stating that Bazarov had “denigrated their honour and dignity” by disseminating information on social media about the professional and personal qualities of teachers at this school. The criminal case for “libel” was opened on the basis of this complaint.

In October 2020 Bazarov had posted a video on TikTok where he had called on parents not to send their children to this school in Tashkent, remembering his own attendance at the school, and stating that the “school is the place were elderly female slaves and losers teach children to be slaves and losers”. The video does not mention any teacher by name and is clearly an expression of Bazarov’s personal opinion.

After Bazarov was discharged from hospital early on 29 April police took him to Tashkent City Police Department. At 11:00 p.m. that day Tashkent’s Mirobad District Court ruled to place him under house arrest. The conditions of his arrest include strict limits on his contact with the outside world. He is not allowed to leave his house except in a  medical emergency; to be in contact with friends, acquaintances or neighbours; to use social media; to engage in any kind of correspondence; and he is allowed to use a land line phone only in exceptional cases to contact his lawyer , the law enforcement agencies and in medical emergency.

Background information:

Miraziz Bazarov’s social media posts have attracted much attention on several occasions in recent months. In 2020 Bazarov criticised the lack of transparency and public control over the use of COVID-19 related loans by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to Uzbekistan, and these posts were widely disseminated on social media. His posts in defense of LGBTI people included criticism of double standards amongst Uzbekistani officials. Many Uzbek traditionalists have issued violent threats including death threats against the blogger.   

Bazarov was physically attacked by masked men on 28 March 2021 as he was walking to his girlfriend’s house in Tashkent. He was admitted to hospital to receive medical treatment for his injuries. He was guarded around the clock. While the authorities claimed this was done to protect his security, we are concerned that their primary aim was to limit his ability to communicate with the outside world and publish social media posts. The first few days after his hospitalization he was not allowed any communication with the outside world. Subsequently, he was permitted limited access to his mother and lawyer, albeit always in the presence of government agents. The guards checked that no one would enter Bazarov’s room with a mobile phone. 

On 28 March the police opened an investigation into attack against Miraziz Bazarov for “intentional bodily injury of moderate severity by a group of people” (Article 105, part 2, para. “i” of the Criminal Code). The case was later requalified as “serious intentional bodily injury by a group of people” (Article 104, part 2, para. ”k”). According to the Tashkent City Police Department, the investigation into the attack is ongoing; it reported that “over 100 individuals have been questioned, 41 172 cars have been examined which may have been used by the perpetrators.” Bazarov’s supporters allege that the investigation is not conducted impartially and effectively. To our knowledge, no one has yet been charged.  

For further information about Miraziz Bazarov, refer to the joint NGO statement Uzbekistan: authorities must end reprisals against blogger Miraziz Bazarov for exercising his right to freedom of expression, issued on 28 April 2021.

   

 

 

Uzbekistan: authorities must end reprisals against blogger Miraziz Bazarov for exercising his right to freedom of expression

Miraziz Bazarov, a blogger from Uzbekistan, is an outspoken critic of government policies and the human rights situation in Uzbekistan. In March Bazarov complained on his TikTok and Telegram channels about numerous threats – online, by phone and in person – of violence, including death threats, he received against the backdrop of his work on human rights violations. His mother and girlfriend have also been targeted with threats of violence.

Bazarov was physically attacked by masked men on 28 March 2021 as he was walking to his girlfriend’s house in Tashkent. On that day he was admitted to hospital to receive medical treatment for his injuries, but for several days he had no communication with the outside world. Subsequently, he was permitted limited access to his mother and lawyer, albeit always in the presence of government agents. Mobile phones with internet access continue to be prohibited in his hospital room. While the authorities claim he is provided guards to protect his security, we are concerned that their primary aim is to limit his ability to communicate with the outside world and publish social media posts. There are allegations that Bazarov requires no further medical treatment but it appears that government orders prevent the hospital from discharging him.

The police have opened an investigation into the 28 March attack against him but at the time of writing no one has been charged. The Uzbekistani authorities must effectively investigate the 28 March attack and violent threats against Bazarov, his mother and girlfriend, and bring the perpetrators to justice.

The organizations jointly issuing this statement are concerned that the Uzbekistani authorities may be fabricating a case against Bazarov to punish him for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression. The authorities must protect Bazarov’s right to freedom of expression and stop any attempts to prosecute him for exercising his rights.

Bring to justice perpetrators of the attack on Bazarov and those who issued threats against him.

On 5 March Miraziz Bazarov expressed support for a public statement initiated by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA-Europe). The statement was supported by 43 NGOs including the authors of this document, called for the decriminalization of consensual sexual relations between adult men, and was published on Instagram.1 Subsequently Bazarov, his mother and his girlfriend received numerous anonymous threats of violence from Uzbekistani traditionalists including death threats, and his own and his mother’s addresses were published online. Between 5 and 28 March Bazarov attempted to file complaints about the threats with law enforcement and other government agencies who, according to him, refused to accept them.2 He had previously received numerous threats connected to his blogging.

In the evening of 28 March, as Bazarov and his girlfriend were walking to her house, three masked men got out of a car parked near the building, one of whom was armed with a baseball bat. The men beat Bazarov severely, causing serious injuries including concussion and a fractured leg. He was subsequently hospitalized and underwent an operation in the Republican Clinical Hospital No.1 where he has been guarded by government agents around the clock.

Police investigators questioned Bazarov on 29 March. Bazarov’s mother was able to visit him briefly for the first time as he came round after the operation on 31 March. After that she and his lawyer, who was engaged on 31 March to represent Bazarov, were not allowed to visit him for a further five days and at the time of writing are only allowed to visit him for some 30 minutes per day and in the presence of government agents. Friends and relatives are not allowed to enter. Guards ensure that Bazarov has no access to mobile phones with internet connection.

On 28 March the Tashkent City Department for Internal Affairs opened a criminal case on the attack on Bazarov for “intentional bodily injury of moderate severity” (Article 105, part 2, paragraph “i” of the Criminal Code), which is punishable by five years’ imprisonment. No one has yet been charged.

Concerns that authorities may be fabricating a case against Miraziz Bazarov

We are concerned that authorities may be attempting to punish Miraziz Bazarov for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression, possibly by fabricating a criminal case against him. In 2020 Bazarov criticised the lack of transparency and public control over the use of COVID-19 related loans by the International Monitory Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to Uzbekistan, and these were widely disseminated on social media. His posts in defence of LGBTI people included criticism of double standards amongst Uzbekistani officials. Consensual sexual relations between adult men are a criminal offence in Uzbekistan punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment.  

On 6 March Bazarov and hundreds of young fans of Japanese anime cartoons and Korean pop music “K-Pop” gathered in central Tashkent and Bazarov posted a video online calling on the fans to gather on Amir Temur Square every Sunday.3 According to Bazarov’s supporters, these meetings were intended as get-togethers of young people to share their enthusiasm for these cultural genres.

At approximately 3:00 pm on Sunday 28 March, a group approached Amir Temur Square shouting “Allah Akbar!”, presumably expecting to confront a gathering of young fans of K-Pop and Japanese anime cartoons. Bazarov had urged people not to convene on that day as he believed such a meeting could be dangerous for the participants.4 Several sources reported that very few people were on the square when the group arrived and that the group targeted a young couple whom they apparently believed to be LGBT supporters. The woman later alleged in a video message shared on social media that her boyfriend sustained serious injuries, had to be hospitalized and went into a coma. Officers of the National Guard intervened and detained 20 to 25 attackers. On 28 March a criminal case was opened for “hooliganism” (Article 277, part 2 "b") in relation to the attack, but to our knowledge no one has yet been charged.

The day after the attacks, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) press service published a five-minute video, describing Bazarov as a social media activist who had “repeatedly called on persons with a non-traditional sexual orientation to participate in various mass gatherings” and had “repeatedly demonstrated his depraved behavior, deliberate disregard for the rules of behavior in society, spreading demeaning antics that contradict the national culture through social networks”. The MIA commentary accuses Bazarov of acting “under the influence of destructive external forces, as well as various international non-governmental organizations”. Against this backdrop, the MIA video appears to convey that “a group of citizens who regarded (Bazarov’s) calls as an offence to their dignity gathered on Amir Temur Square on 28 March in order to voice their opinion and civic position” and that “excessively emotional citizens and persons with a low level of legal literacy tried to solve the problem themselves“, but it deplores that they did so “disregarding legislation” and causing “public disorder”, which law enforcement officers then had to reinstate.

The MIA commentary does not provide details of the “public disorder” and does not mention that persons were attacked and injured. By using footage depicting Bazarov and young people that was taken earlier in March alongside footage of the homophobic mob on 28 March the MIA video appears to imply that the mob encountered a gathering of pro-LGBTI rights activists under the leadership of Miraziz Bazarov. To our knowledge, Miraziz Bazarov was not present on Amir Temur Square on 28 March.

At the end of March, in the course of the investigation into the attack on Amir Temur Square, law enforcement officials searched Bazarov’s and his mother’s apartments. While no search warrant was presented during the first search, officers handed out a search warrant on 31 March stating that Bazarov had repeatedly called on his followers via social media to meet near the monument to Amir Temur to conduct LGBTI “propaganda” and to call for decriminalisation of consensual sexual relations between adult men. The officials seized documents, cameras, phones and computers.

Police officers have questioned Bazarov’s close supporters on several occasions and have tried to find out more about his network.

The Uzbekistani authorities must stop their reprisals against blogger Miraziz Bazarov for exercising his right to freedom of expression. They must also investigate promptly, effectively and impartially the attack and the threats against him, and identify and prosecute in fair trial proceedings all those believed to be responsible.

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