Uzbekistan: anti-corruption blogger Otabek Sattoriy has not been seen or heard from despite his release from prison
Uzbekistan has not held a free election since its independence in 1991, and the upcoming legislative elections, scheduled for 27 October, will not be any different. Criticising the regime remains dangerous, as illustrated by the case of Otabek Sattoriy. This blogger, whose only crime was reporting on corruption, has now been silenced after spending three years in prison on trumped-up charges.
Released from prison eight months ago, Otabek Sattoriy is still not free. According to a court decision on 5 February 2024, which commuted his sentence to “correctional work” and a fine amounting to 20% of his income, the blogger should now be able to contact the outside world and post on social media. Yet Sattoriy remains just as silent and unreachable as he was during the three years he spent behind bars.
Sattoriy reportedly made a statement to a local association that visited him in prison a few days before his release; he allegedly praised President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, describing him as a “leader with great potential.”
"It seems that Otabek Sattoriy is under pressure not to speak out or even leave his house. Only one deputy has ever dared to defend him publicly, former journalist Rasul Kusherbaev, who has since resigned. On the eve of legislative elections whose outcomes have already been decided, RSF is alerting the Uzbek authorities to Sattoriy's situation and calling on them to respect his freedom of expression, and invite ambassadors to visit him in Termez to hear his story.
Condemned for reporting
Sattoriy, who hails from the Surxondaryo region bordering Afghanistan, was the target of death threats due to the investigative reports on corruption he posted on his YouTube channel Xalq Fikri (“People's Opinion”). He had been covering the illegal expulsion of farmers before his arrest on 30 January 2021. An unjust yet common occurrence in Uzbekistan, the farmers’ land was confiscated by a senior local official – with the help of the police – and transferred to a company owned by Murtazo Rakhmatov, a businessman and senator close to the President.
Sattoriy was initially accused of extortion by the manager of a local market. The manager had offered to replace the blogger's mobile phone, which had been damaged by market employees who had prevented him from reporting on food prices, against whom Sattoriy had lodged a complaint. Shortly after his arrest, other complaints were lodged against Otabek Sattoriy by individuals named in his videos on corruption.
No coverage of an unfair trial
Deprived of the right to choose his lawyer, Sattoriy was denied a fair trial. Two journalists who tried to cover his trial, which was held behind closed doors, were prosecuted. Another journalist was abducted for several hours and threatened with repercussions if he continued to cover the case. On 11 May 2021, Sattoriy was sentenced to six and a half years in prison for “defamation” and ”extortion”.
While in prison, the blogger was deprived of family visits, food parcels, clothing and medication, and suffered from headaches, cystitis, kidney infections, high fevers and seizures. This exacerbated his asthma and allergies, according to a report by the NGOs Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA) and International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR).
The repression of independent journalists
As the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention noted in November 2022, “the basis of Mr Sattoriy's arrest and subsequent detention was in fact the exercise of his freedom of expression.” Sattoriy's case illustrates the ongoing persecution of independent journalists in Uzbekistan. Pressured by the authorities, six bloggers in the southern province of Kashkadaria were forced to stop reporting last year. Five other media professionals working in the Karakalpakstan region are currently in prison or under house arrest. Another journalist, Lolagul Kallykhanova, was given a suspended eight-year prison sentence on 31 January 2023 with a three-year “trial period” as punishment for her coverage of the bloody demonstrations in Karakalpakstan in July 2022.
Persecuted by the authorities, journalists and bloggers cannot rely on Uzbekistan’s laws to protect them. In fact, the country’s legislation is often used to repress media workers. There is widespread self-censorship on taboo subjects such as high-level corruption. Despite President Mirziyoyev's rhetoric in favour of the media, Uzbekistan ranked 148th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2024 World Press Freedom Index. The country fell 15 places in two years, and its press freedom situation deteriorated from “difficult” to “very serious.”
