According to relatives of Uzbek refugee Mirsobir Khamidkariev, who was kidnapped in the center of Moscow in early June 2014, Uzbek interrogators forced him to refuse services of the lawyer they hired for him.

Marguba Khamidkarieva, the mother of Uzbek businessman Mirsobir Khamidkariev, told “Jarayon” in mid-August 2014 that her son, who is currently under investigations in Tashkent, refused services of the lawyer his family hired to protect him.

“Despite financial difficulties, we hired a lawyer to protect my son, who could meet him. However, Mirsobir was not allowed stay with the lawyer privately, an investigator observed their meeting. There Mirsobir said that he does not need a lawyer. I’m sure that he was forced to refuse services of the lawyer we hired for him,” Mirsobir Khamidkariev’s mother said.

Mutabar Tadjibayeva, the head of “Fiery Hearts Club” International Human Rights Organization based in Paris, France, said in her interview with “Jarayon”that the investigating authorities of Uzbekistan had to involve the lawyer hired by his family into the criminal case of Mirsobir Khamidkariev.

“Brutal tortures applied against Mirsobir, attempts to force him to admit the crimes that he did not commit and testify against others are the reasons why Mirsobir Khamidkariev, who is kept under arrest in isolation from the outside world, refused services of the lawyer. The investigating authorities are afraid that their criminal acts would be exposed, therefore they try to keep everybody away from Mirsobir before the court trial,” Tadjibayeva said.

It will be recalled that 37-year-old businessman from Uzbekistan Mirsobir Khamidkariev was on the territory of Russia with his common wife Eleanora Isayeva and their eight-month baby seeking asylum. In Uzbekistan,Khamidkariev had been wanted since 2011; the Uzbek side accuses him of involvement in creation of such banned religious extremist organizations as “Islam zhikhodchilari” and “Vakhobiy.”

The refugee denied the accusations and said that the Uzbek security services hunted him because of the business taken from him in Uzbekistan worth of US $1.5 million. In Tashkent, Khamidkariev owned “Electronics World”, which was later captured by masked men with guns. Also Mirsobir Khamidkarievwent out of favor of the Uzbek authorities for producing the film “Nafs”(Temptation) forbidden for distribution in Uzbekistan and a conflict with the ruling elite in the country.

In mid-May 2014, the Russian authorities granted Mirsobir Khamidkariev a refugee status.

However, Mirsobir Khamidkariev was secretly kidnapped in the center of Moscowon 9 June 2014. Later Mirsobir Khamidkariev’s lawyer Illarion Vasiliyev told “Jarayon” that the Uzbek refugee was taken away against his will by the security services of Uzbekistan from Russia first to Kazakhstan and then to Tashkent.

Initially, many human rights activists assumed that Mirsobir Khamidkariev was kidnapped by the Uzbek security services with support of their Russian counterparts, and secretly taken to Uzbekistan.

On 30 July 2014, lawyer Illarion Vasiliyev gave an interview to Kazakhstan information channel “16/12”, in which he said that the Uzbek security services kidnap opposition activists, businessmen and Islamic leaders from territories of other countries, in particular, of Russia. According to Illarion Vasiliyev, seven people were kidnapped inRussia and taken to Uzbekistan for the last eight months with participation of the Russian authorities.

In the interview titled “Long arms of Karimovreach Russia”, lawyer Vasiliyev also spoke about Mirsobir Khamidkariev’s story.

“My client Mirsobir Khamidkariev was kidnapped on 9 June. He and his wife called for a taxi in “Christie Prudy” in the center of Moscow. His wife asked the taxi driver to stop as she needed to buy medicine in a pharmacy for their sick child. When she was out of the car with their child, two men dressed as civilians quickly got into the car, and the driver drove away. Two weeks later the man appeared to be in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in the Tashkent prison. The taxi driver behaved in a strange way. In fact, they called for the taxi through the Internet.

Prior to that, Mirsobir Khamidkariev and his wife Eleanora Isayeva were hiding in an unfinished house, it was almost impossible to find them. In other words, they maintained a high level of secrecy. There are suggestions that they were found through the IP-address of the mobile Internet or billing,” lawyer Illarion Vasiliyev said in his interview with the Kazakh television station.

Today, Mirsobir Khamidkariev is in the Tashkent prison. The Uzbek investigators do not allow his family members visiting him.

Mubina SAFAROVA

You can watch the video-interview of Moscow-based lawyer Illarion Vasiliyev to Kazakhstan Information Channel ‘16/12’ below: