The Swedish town of Sundsvall hosted an appeals court in respect of a married couple from Uzbekistan Bakhodir Pulatov and Nodira Aminov, who were suspected in contributing to the murder attempt on the famous Uzbek imam Obidkhon Nazarov.

On July 1, court of appeals in Sundsvall city acquitted the couple from Uzbekistan – Bahodir Pulatova and Nodira Aminova – who were suspected in contributing to the attack on Uzbek imam Obidkhon Nazarov. The ruling cited the lack of technical evidence to support charges put against this pair.

Bahodir Pulatov and Nodira Aminova were brought to trial on this case second time.

A prominent Uzbek immam Obidkhon Nazarov, who lives in exile in Sweden, was shot in the head on February 22, 2012. Imam is in a coma since then.

Documents of the investigation state the presence of technical evidences to support the fact that the Nodira Aminova and her husband Bahodir Pulatov helped the hired killer Yuri Zhukovsky in planning his trip to Sweden, hotel reservation, and car rental. Also, the documents say that the couple helped Zhukovsky in search of a place of residence and work of the Uzbek imam in Sundsvall.

The court of first Instance, which took place in summer of 2012, acquitted the spouses for lack of evidence. The prosecutor Christer Petersson had asked the judge to give Pulatov and Aminova eight years in prison for helping the hired killer Zhukovsky knowing about the planned attack.

Despite the fact that this time the prosecution submitted to the court new evidences of the couple’s guilt – transcript of their phone calls and SMS messages sent to Yuri Zhukovskiy, the appeals court again did not believe in the guilt of Nodira Aminova and Bahodir Pulatov, and acquitted them.

“I am disappointed by the decision of the court. Although, this trial was better than the one in the district court,”- said the prosecutor.

Representatives of the Uzbek community living in exile are unhappy with the decision of the court in relation to Aminova and Pulatov. They consider it unfair.

Mutabar Tadjibayeva, head of the international human rights organization “Fiery Hearts Club,” says that the second decision of the Swedish court in favor of couple Nodira Aminova and Bahodir Pulatov deprived Uzbeks the opportunity to reveal the crimes committed by the Uzbekistani authorities.

– It is no secret that the Uzbek authorities consider Obidkhon Nazarov as its most ardent opponent. TV shows defaming the image of Obidkhon Nazarov that were broadcast from Uzbek television channels, numerous courts against the believers, in which many Muslims were put into jail for their alleged connection to a famous imam, prove that the Uzbek authorities were interested in eliminating Obidkhon Nazarov. One can surely say that the recent acquittal decision of the Swedish court opened the way for the killers of the Uzbek regime to eliminate Islam Karimov’s critics, – says Tadjibayeva.

Meanwhile, Nodira Aminova and Bahodir Pulatov completely deny any involvement in the crime. They say they did not know about the criminal intentions of Zhukovsky and helped him as their brother’s friend.

Yuri Zhukovsky, the prime suspect in the murder attempt against imam Obidkhon Nazarov, is still wanted.