International Human Rights Organisation Amnesty International expressed concerns about the health status of former Uzbek MP Murad Zhuraev, who was convicted for political reasons in Uzbekistan.

In the July 21 statement, International Human Rights Organization Amnesty International expressed deep concerns about the fate of political prisoner Murad Zhurayev.

In particular, the Amnesty International’s statement said that on July 14-15, 2014 Kholbika Zhurayeva,Murad Zhurayev’s spouse, visited him in Prison # 64/6 located in the town of Chirchiq, Tashkent province. Later on she informed human rights activists that her husband urgently needs medical care.

“Murad Zhurayev’shealth status has seriously deteriorated in the prison. He lost all his teeth. It turned out that allegedly a dentist measured his jaw in 2013, but his family was not aware of that. The prison authorities did not allow Zhurayevapplying to other dentists. Murad Zhurayev is not able to eat solid food, has digestive problems and has lost a lot of weight.

His feet constantlyhurt, and he suffers from severe headaches. He has not had access to medical care since his arrest in 1994. The prison staff keeps him under psychological pressure. The prison authorities tryto isolate Murad Zhurayevfrom other prisoners by threatening his inmates to extend their prison terms if they communicate with him,” said the Amnesty Internationalstatement.

Amnesty International called the Uzbek authorities for immediaterelease of political prisoner Murad Zhurayev from the prison due to the deterioration of his health and for an investigation of his case with observation of international fair trial standards.

“Also, the Uzbek authorities should promptly and impartially investigate all allegations about tortures against Murad Zhurayev,which have been ignored for over 19 years,” said the human rights organization’sstatement.

“Jarayon” has managed to get touch with Kholbika Zhurayeva, Murad Zhurayev’s wife, who, in turn, spoke of other diseases which the political prisoner currently suffers in the prison.

“He had sinusitis, now it has aggravated, his nose suppurates all the time and he has to constantly change handkerchiefs. He has pains at the back of his head. He complains that it is painful for him to raise his head. My husband says he does not see well, and at night he uses a lantern as he does not see. I think it’s because he has sinusitis. Also, my husband badly suffers blood pressure. He constantly belches and has bad breath. I had to give him a Mezimpill (pill against poor digestion–“Jarayon’s”note) so that he could properly eat. Doctors do not provide assistance to him and ignore our requests for medical assistance. I left the prison entirely broken,” Murad Zhurayev’s wife said in tears.

Kholbika Zhurayeva says that her husband’s sentence should end on November 12, 2015, but according to her, he lost all hope for his early release.

“Today our only hope is support from the international community. At the last meeting, my husband told me that thanks to the continued support actions, the colony administration released him from hard work,did not throw him into an isolation ward prior to a holidayas they used to do, they reprimanded him only once so that he cannot be amnestied.

If he had not been reprimanded, he should have been already amnestied. Now he has become so skinny that every time I bring him clothes, I go out not to see his body and start crying there because now my husband looks like a hundred-years old man. If next year the authorities extend his term again, then I will completely lose hope for my husband’s release,” Kholbika Zhurayeva told “Jarayon”.

Former member of the Uzbek Parliament Murad Zhurayev was arrested on 18 September, 1994 charged with attempts to overthrow the government. In March 1995, Murad Zhurayev was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment.

However, independent observers believe that former politician Murad Zhurayev suffers for his dissent and desire to change the situation in the country for better.

The Uzbek authorities extended Murad Zhurayev’s prison term under various pretexts three times when he was about to be released from the prison. For instance, in 2003, 2006, 2009 and 2012 Murad Zhurayev was charged with “breach of colonyregulations”, after which the prison administration extended his imprisonment terms.

Authoritative international human rights organizations included Murad Zhurayev on the list of political prisoners kept in the country’s prisons for long and exposed to severe psychological and physical violence.

Asad BOIMURODOV