Yet another Uzbek refugee, Khairullo Tursunov, extradited from Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan, is sentenced to many years in prison.

Tursunov was exstradited from Almaty to Tashkent on March 13, 2013.

In early June 2013, 38-year-old Uzbek refugee Khairullo Tursunov was sentenced to twelve years in prison for “conducting extremist religious activities.” Jarayon was informed about it on June 26 from Tursunov’s relatives living outside Uzbekistan.

According to them, the court on Tursunov’s case was held in Kashkadarya regional court and some of his relatives were able to participate in the trial. Many of them believe that the trial was unfair, and the case was initially fabricated.

Human rights activists believe that Khairullo Tursunov was sentenced to a long prison term because of his religious views.

It is not known whether Khairullo Tursunov is going to appeal the court’s decision. Jarayon was not able to contact his relatives in Karshi city.

Jarayon has been following Khairullo Tursunov’s case from the very beginning. After his extradition to Uzbekistan, our correspondent was able to contact with Tursunov’s close relative in Kashkadarya via phone. However, after the publication of the material about Tursunov, local law enforcement agencies began putting pressure on his family and relatives, after which they refused any interviews by journalists.

Khairullo Tursunov, native of Karshi city of Kashkadarya region, Uzbekistan, was arrested in Aktobe city of Kazakstan in April 2012. He was held in the detention center in Aktobe city for almost a year. Then he was transferred to detention facility in Almaty.

Tursunov had lived in Kazakhstan for many years. He had applied to UNHCR’s representation in Kazakhstan asking for asylum for him and his family.

Uzbek authorities have accused him of terrorism, attempting to overthrow the constitutional order, and membership in a jamaat, established in Almaty.

While Tursunov was in detention in Kazakhstan, rights organizations, France-based international human rights organization “Fiery Hearts Club” sent an individual complaint on behalf of Tursunov to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

On February 28, Mutabar Tadjibayeva, head of the “Fiery Hearts Club” received a reply from UNHCHR, which stated that the individual complaint on Tursunov’s case was accepted, and that he should not be extradited to Uzbekistan during the consideration period of the complaint.

However, despite the requirement of the United Nations, on March 13, 2013, the Kazakh authorities extradited Khairullo Tursunov to Tashkent. This is not the first time that the government of Kazakhstan violates its international obligations and sends Uzbek refugees to Uzbekistan, where torture and abuse of religious prisoners is systematic.

In 2011, the Kazakh authorities handed 29 religious Uzbek refugees, arrested in Almaty, to Uzbekistan. Uzbek authorities accused them of very serious crimes. Now many of them are in prison in Uzbekistan and complain about the torture and abuse by prison guards.