Renowned Uzbek Poet Freed, Then Exiled

Yusuf Juma, a celebrated Uzbek poet, has finally been freed from the notorious Jaslik prison after three years incarceration.

His release has prompted human rights activists to hope other jailed dissidents might be freed.

Juma was freed on May 18 and immediately left for the United States together with his daughter and her children. The Uznews.net site says he was stripped of his Uzbek citizenship.

He was given a five-year term in 2008 for assault and resisting the authorities, but right activists say his real offence was to criticise the regime in his poetry, and to take part in a 2007 demonstration against the re-election of President Islam Karimov, who has ruled continuously for the last two decades. The legislative fix that allowed Karimov to stand yet again was seen as unconstitutional by many observers, and the regime did not offer any explanation of its legality.

Juma’s release, which technically took place under an amnesty to mark 20 years of Uzbek independence, is a concession made to the West, and perhaps the most significant since opposition figure Sanjar Umarov was freed in 2009 after four years in jail.

As in the Umarov case, it seems to have been pressure from the United States that secured Juma’s freedom. The move came about a week before Susan Elliott, deputy assistant secretary of state for south and Central Asian affairs, held talks in Tashkent, and just before the European Union opened a mission in the country.

Abdurahmon Tashanov of the Ezgulik Human Rights Society says the authorities are currently trying to seek favour with the international community.

"The pressure on President Karimov is intensifying, and the ambassador the US is sending to Uzbekistan, George Krol, has declared his commitment to democratic values," Tashanov said.

Uzbek human rights groups have identified a number of political prisoners who might be freed later in the year. Among them are Murad Juraev, who is gravely ill with tuberculosis and serving a 12-year term in Kashkadarya region, and Muhammadjon Bekjonov, in prison in Zarafshan since 1994.

Human rights groups say Uzbekistan has thousands of prisoners held for political reasons. Among them are journalist Solijon Abdurahmonov, human rights defenders Dilmurod Sayid and Aghzam Turghunov, and HIV/AIDS activist Maksim Popov.

This article was produced as part of IWPR's News Briefing Central Asia output, funded by the National Endowment for Democracy.