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Ruslan
Sharipov released on probation
At the end of a secret
trial in the absence of his lawyers, Ruslan Sharipov had
the rest of his prison sentence replaced by two years
community service. He was sent to Bukhara, 600 kms from
the capital. "What has been presented as an easing of
the journalist's sentence was in fact designed to
isolate him further and to prevent his voice being
heard," said Reporters Without Borders.
A district court in
Khamzincki, Tashkent sentenced journalist Ruslan
Sharipov to two years community service in the central
town of Bukhara, at the end of a secret trial.
Reporters Without Borders
condemned "the serious violation of the right to defence
during this farce of a trial", in a letter to President
Islam Karimov.
The court on 23 June
ordered Sharipov to serve the rest of his sentence in
Bukhara, 600 kms from the capital, and where he has no
family. He was sentenced to community service and to pay
one quarter of his salary to the government. He cannot
leave the city without prior police permission.
The case was heard
behind closed doors and in the absence of his lawyers.
None of his family was notified in advance. Sharipov was
transferred to Bukhara on 25 June.
"What has been presented
as an easing of the journalist's sentence was in fact
designed to isolate him further and to prevent his voice
being heard," said the international press freedom
organisation. "We call for him to be free to move around
freely so he can resume his work as a journalist and
human rights activist."
A commission met on 12
June 2004 to examine whether Sharipov should have his
sentence reduced. He could have been amnestied since he
had served one third of this sentence.
Sharipov, 25, was
sentenced on appeal on 25 September 2003 to four years
in prison for homosexuality (under article 120 of the
criminal code) and for allegedly having sex with a minor
(article 128). This sentence was reduced to just over
three years by a general amnesty in December 2003. The
authorities had said then that he could be freed in June
2004.
A former president of
the Union of Independent Journalists of Uzbekistan (UIJU)
and correspondent for the Russian news agency Prima,
Sharipov was arrested on 26 May 2003.
Under duress, he pleaded
guilty on 8 August 2003, asked President Karimov to be
forgiven for all his critical articles, and waived his
right to legal defence. In a letter to UN
secretary-general Kofi Annan on 5 September, he said he
had been forced to plead guilty after undergoing
physical and psychological torture.
Sharipov has never
denied his bisexuality but he claims he had never met
the adolescents who were alleged to have been his
victims. They were detained on 26 May and held for three
or four days. Sharipov's lawyer said they were beaten
and threatened by police to get them to testify against
Sharipov in court. In fact, the trial had to be
adjourned several times because they failed to turn up.
For several years,
Sharipov had been the target of harassment aimed at
getting him to give up his human rights activities and
articles criticising the authorities. |
