Top Uzbek activist freed after 21 years behind bars

Juraev and his associates were convicted in 1995 of plotting to overthrow the government of Karimov

ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN:

Uzbekistan has released a prominent political activist after he served more than two decades in prison, rights groups said on Thursday.

Murod Juraev's high-profile release came less than two weeks after US Secretary of State John Kerry visited the highly-repressive state and held talks with President Islam Karimov.

A former lawmaker who represented an opposition party banned by the regime, Juraev served 21 years behind bars after the nine-year sentence he received in 1995 was extended several times.



Juraev, 63, and his associates were convicted in 1995 of plotting to overthrow the government of Karimov, who has brooked no dissent since he consolidated power following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The activist was first incarcerated in September 1994 before receiving a sentence of 12 years, which was then reduced to nine years on appeal.

"This was not an act of mercy," Steve Swerdlow, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW), told AFP by telephone.

"The very fact that we are celebrating the release of a political activist who had served much longer than the sentence he was first handed, shows how low our expectations of the Uzbek government have become," Swerdlow said.

Juraev's sentence was extended several times for alleged violations of prison rules, one of which was "incorrectly peeling carrots", HRW said.



A number of rights groups claim Juraev was regularly tortured in prison and denied adequate medical care, common accusations in relation to the repressive state's treatment of political prisoners.

Uzbekistan, a country of some 30 million people in Central Asia, regularly finishes in 'Worst of the Worst' ranking of US think tank Freedom House which lists violators of civil liberties and also includes countries like North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

Kerry visited Uzbekistan as part of an ambitious tour of Central Asia, with the country playing an important ally in Washington's military intervention in Afghanistan.