Uzbekistan: Sentencing of Mr. Sanjar Umarov

Case UZB 011105.1 - Follow up to case UZB 011105

Sentencing

Geneva, 28 April 2006

The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Uzbekistan.

New Information

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source of the sentencing of Mr. Sanjar Umarov, leader of the Sunshine Uzbekistan opposition movement, to seven years and eight months of imprisonment by the Tashkent Court of Appeal on 13 April 2006. Mr. Umarov was sentenced for economic crimes, including ‘large-scale embezzlement’, money laundering and tax evasion. Moreover, he has to pay $8 million in fines and is forbidden to undertake any business activities until three years after his release.

According to the information received, Mr. Sanjar Umarov was sentenced by the Tashkent City Court to 14,5 years imprisonment on 6 March 2006. On 13 April 2006 this verdict was shortened by the Tashkent Court of Appeal to 10,5 years, which becomes shorted to seven years and eight months with the amnesty applied.

It is reported by national and international observers to the trial, that the health situation of Mr. Umarov has strongly deteriorated since his arrest and it is feared that he might have been injected with psychotropic drugs.

OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Umarov.

Brief reminder of the situation

According to the information received, Mr. Umarov was arrested on Saturday 22nd October, charged with stealing an undisclosed sum of money through his business dealings. When his lawyer went to visit him on Tuesday 25th October he found his client in his cell naked on the floor of his cell, his hands covering his face. He did not respond to his name. His lawyer wrote “that I cannot conduct any interview with him in his current state, and that he needs immediate medical attention and expertise concerning his current condition and illness.” Mr. Umarov had reportedly passed a message from jail to his supporters, following his arrest, saying that the authorities had exerted pressure on him and threatened to inject him with drugs.

Action requested

Please write to the authorities in Uzbekistan urging them to:
i. Take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Umarov and guarantee that he be provided immediately with medical assistance;
ii. Ensure that the procedural rights of Mr. Umarov are guaranteed at all times;
iii. Order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these events, notably the allegations of torture, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iv. Grant Mr. Umarov a retrial in the event that the above-mentioned investigation reveals that he was tortured;
v. Guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with international human rights standards.

Addresses

• President of Uzbekistan, Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov, ul. Uzbekistanskaya 43, Rezidentsia prezidenta, 700163 Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan, Fax: +998 71 133 7258, E-mail: presidents_office@press-service.uz
  
• Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, Sayora Rashidova, ul. Xalqlar Dostligi 1, 700035 Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan, Fax: +998 71 139 85 55, E-mail: office@ombudsman.gov.uz
  
• Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Ubaydulla Mingbaev, Respublika Uzbekistan; 700183 g. Tashkent; ul. Abdulla Kodiri, 1; Verkhovny Sud Respubliki Uzbekistan
  
• General Prosecutor of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Rashidjon Hamidovich Kodirov, ul. Gulyamova 66, 700047 Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan, Fax: +998 71 133 39 17, E-mail: prokuratura@lawyer.com
  
• Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the United Nations in Geneva, PO Box 1853, 1215 Geneva 15, Switzerland, Fax: +4122 799 43 02, E-mail: uzbekistan@bluewin.ch
  
• Ambassador Mr. Vladimir Norov, The Embassy of Uzbekistan in Brussels, F.D. Rooseveltlaan 99, 1050 Brussels, Tel: +32 2 672 88 44, Fax: +32 2 672 39 46.

Please also write to the embassies of Uzbekistan in your respective country.

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Geneva, 28 April 2006

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.