OSCE Urges Uzbek Gov't to Free Blogger Sentenced to 10 Days Over Post on Corruption
The media freedom representative at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on Thursday expressed his concern over the situation around an Uzbek political blogger who was sentenced to 10 days in prison for publishing an open letter in which he called on the country's president to investigate an alleged corruption case
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th September, 2019) The media freedom representative at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on Thursday expressed his concern over the situation around an Uzbek political blogger who was sentenced to 10 days in prison for publishing an open letter in which he called on the country's president to investigate an alleged corruption case.
"Worried about reports of blogger Nodirbek Hojimatov [Xojimatov] being sentenced to 10 days in prison in #Uzbekistan for a Facebook post calling on the President to investigate local corruption.
This compromises his #freedomofexpression. I call for his release," Harlem Desir wrote on Twitter.
Hojimatov was arrested in eastern Uzbekistan last week after alleged in the open letter, issued on September 9, that two governors were involved in corruption. He had also said these officials did not deserve the presidential awards they had recently received.
The blogger reportedly violated Article 41 of Uzbekistan's administrative code, which refers to offenses against a person's dignity and carries a fine of up to 8.9 million Uzbek sums ($950).