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A political prisoner Murad Djuraev exhausted all the stages of the appeal against the last sentence handed down on his case on 4 December 2012.
Murad Djuraev was born in 1952 in the town of Mubarak of the Kashkadarya region. He is ethnic Turkmen, married and has three children. He graduated from the Tashkent Polytechnic Institute. Between 1989 and 1992, he worked as the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the City Council of the town of Mubarek. Between 1991 and 1992, he was a Member of the Parliament of Uzbekistan.
He was accused of conspiring with the leader of the "Erk" opposition political party Muhammad Salih. According to the authorities, they wanted to organise a violent seizure of power.
Murad Djuraev has been in prison since 18 September 1994.
The last Court hearing against the political prisoner Murad Djuraev took place on 4 December 2012 in the town of Almalyk of the Tashkent region. He was sentenced to three years and 24 days of imprisonment under Part 2, paragraph (b) of Article 221 of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan, “Disobedience to Legitimate Orders of Administration of Institution of Execution of Penalty”. This is his fourth conviction under the same Article of the Criminal Code and the fifth sentence since his first sentencing. Murad Djuraev has spent 21 year in prison; the maximum term of imprisonment in Uzbekistan is 25 years. You can find more details in our press release “Uzbekistan: Murad Djuraev is sentenced to another term of imprisonment of three years 24 days” dated 16 December 2012.
- Response of the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan in the case of Murad Djuraev
“Your complaint expressing your disagreement with the judicial decisions of the Supreme Court against M. Djuraev has been considered.
By the Sentence of the Almalyk City Criminal Court dated 4 December 2012, upheld by the Determination of the Tashkent Region Criminal Appeal Court dated 3 January 2013, M. Djuraev was convicted, under Article 221, Part 2 of paragraph "b" of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan, following the procedure laid down by Article 60 of the Criminal Code, to 3 years and 24 days of imprisonment.
In the complaint, there are allegations of illegality of the sentencing of M. Djuraev and therefore it raises the questions of repeal of the judicial decisions and termination of the criminal case on grounds of rehabilitation.
M. Djuraev’s guilt of the incriminating act was proved by the testimony of witnesses S. Djuraev, A. Umarov,, N. Abdurakhmanov, N. Rustamov, documents on disciplinary punishment and other evidence collected in the case.
The Court classified M. Djuraev’s action correctly, the punishment imposed is proportionate to the offense.
Reason for changing or repealing the Court’s Sentence are not established.
Deputy Chairman R. Obidov".
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Murad Djuraev, who is now 63, was imprisoned on trumped-up charges. All court decisions are “frame ups” and support exclusively the case for the prosecution. In recent years, he has been particularly experiencing physical exhaustion and the constant humiliation of his human dignity. During the investigation, in 1994-95, he was tortured. His access to medical care is constantly restricted. No acts of humanism of the past 20 years helped his situation. In December 2015, the last sentence against Murad Djuraev expires, but so far, nothing indicates to the possibility of his release.
Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA) urges all interested parties, the governments of democratic countries, human rights organisations and the media to draw attention to the case of Murad Djuraev and call on the leadership of the Republic of Uzbekistan to release him from prison.
Our previous materials about Murad Djuraev:
— petition «On the Day of the 65th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights please support a petition for freedom of Uzbek political prisoner Murad Djuraev!» dated 9 December 2013;
— press release «Uzbekistan: Red stripe on the case file of the political prisoner Murad Djuraev» dated 29 April 2013;
— press release «Uzbekistan: An appeal against the sentence in the case of Murat Djuraev is rejected» dated 5 January 2013;
— press release «Uzbekistan: Murad Djuraev is sentenced to another term of imprisonment of three years 24 days» dated 16 December 2012;
— press release «Uzbekistan: Free Political Prisoners on Constitution Day. Use Anniversary to Advance Real Reform» dated 7 December 2012;
— press release «Uzbekistan: ailing political prisoner Murad Djurayev is again placed in solitary confinement» dated 14 October 2012;
— press release «It is not possible to find out the location of political prisoner Murad Djuraev for the last four months» dated 17 September 2009.