Oldest Political Prisoner Out at Last
Oldest Political Prisoner Out at Last
The Uzbek authorities have finally released Ahmatjon Adylov, a well-known local politician in Soviet times, after he had spent nearly a quarter of a century in jail. Human rights activists say that in cases of this kind, the individuals released should have their names cleared completely.
Adylov was released on June 4. At 83, he has been described as Uzbekistan’s oldest political prisoner.
His arrest by the Soviet authorities in 1984 was widely reported. At the time he was head of an “agro-industrial association”, a state-owned company consisting of 14 large farms and 17 other plants, and employing 40,000 people.
He was accused of running the firm like a feudal lord, and even of having a private prison for disobedient farmworkers.
Despite investigating the allegations for seven years, the Soviet chief prosecutor failed to bring a case. Adylov was eventually sent back from Moscow to the newly-independent state of Uzbekistan as a free man in 1991.
He set up the Timur Justice Party and appeared all set to launch a political career. Any such ambitions were cut short in December 1992, when he was arrested again, this time by the Uzbek authorities, and accused of stealing fertilisers.
Although Adylov should have been released long ago, the prison authorities kept him in by adding on new sentences for allegd breaches of prison regulations. As a man aged over 60, he would automatically have been eligible for the blanket amnesty that the Uzbek government periodically extends to various categories of prison inmates. That never happened.
The state-run press in Uzbekistan passed over Adylov’s release in silence.
Human rights activists and other commentators have welcomed the fact that after so many years, Adylov is free. Most believe the authorities let him go because his age and declining health meant he no longer represented any kind of threat.
“The authorities released him because he’s completely harmless,” said an NBCentralAsia commentator in Tashkent. “His vision is poor, and despite the reputation he enjoys, he no longer has the strength to head the opposition to [President] Islam Karimov.”
Shuhrat Ganiyev, head of the Humanitarian and Legal Centre based in Bukhara, said the authorities felt confident about letting Adylov out because he had no followers.
“It would be nice to be able to say Adylov’s release came about because of the tireless campaigning by civil society activists and the opposition, but unfortunately that wasn’t the deciding factor,” said Ganiyev.
Legal experts say the authorities should overturn the convictions of Adylov and also of human rights activists who have been freed but not cleared.
Surat Ikramov, the heads of the Initiative Group of Independent Human Rights Activists of Uzbekistan, recalled that the well-known human rights activist Mutabar Tajibaeva, released on June 2, still has a suspended sentence.
“The authorities do not offer [such individuals] full rehabilitation,” said Ikramov. “Yet the state needs to admit that the conviction was illegal, publicly apologise and pay substantial compensation for decades spent in prison.”
(NBCA is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service is resuming, covering only Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan for the moment.)
Adylov was released on June 4. At 83, he has been described as Uzbekistan’s oldest political prisoner.
His arrest by the Soviet authorities in 1984 was widely reported. At the time he was head of an “agro-industrial association”, a state-owned company consisting of 14 large farms and 17 other plants, and employing 40,000 people.
He was accused of running the firm like a feudal lord, and even of having a private prison for disobedient farmworkers.
Despite investigating the allegations for seven years, the Soviet chief prosecutor failed to bring a case. Adylov was eventually sent back from Moscow to the newly-independent state of Uzbekistan as a free man in 1991.
He set up the Timur Justice Party and appeared all set to launch a political career. Any such ambitions were cut short in December 1992, when he was arrested again, this time by the Uzbek authorities, and accused of stealing fertilisers.
Although Adylov should have been released long ago, the prison authorities kept him in by adding on new sentences for allegd breaches of prison regulations. As a man aged over 60, he would automatically have been eligible for the blanket amnesty that the Uzbek government periodically extends to various categories of prison inmates. That never happened.
The state-run press in Uzbekistan passed over Adylov’s release in silence.
Human rights activists and other commentators have welcomed the fact that after so many years, Adylov is free. Most believe the authorities let him go because his age and declining health meant he no longer represented any kind of threat.
“The authorities released him because he’s completely harmless,” said an NBCentralAsia commentator in Tashkent. “His vision is poor, and despite the reputation he enjoys, he no longer has the strength to head the opposition to [President] Islam Karimov.”
Shuhrat Ganiyev, head of the Humanitarian and Legal Centre based in Bukhara, said the authorities felt confident about letting Adylov out because he had no followers.
“It would be nice to be able to say Adylov’s release came about because of the tireless campaigning by civil society activists and the opposition, but unfortunately that wasn’t the deciding factor,” said Ganiyev.
Legal experts say the authorities should overturn the convictions of Adylov and also of human rights activists who have been freed but not cleared.
Surat Ikramov, the heads of the Initiative Group of Independent Human Rights Activists of Uzbekistan, recalled that the well-known human rights activist Mutabar Tajibaeva, released on June 2, still has a suspended sentence.
“The authorities do not offer [such individuals] full rehabilitation,” said Ikramov. “Yet the state needs to admit that the conviction was illegal, publicly apologise and pay substantial compensation for decades spent in prison.”
(NBCA is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service is resuming, covering only Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan for the moment.)
