On May 29, the court in Khorezm, Uzbekistan, upheld the verdict against the protestant church parishioner Sharofat Allamova that was issued on April 11.
The judges of both instances did not take into account 62 violations of the law during the investigation.
Earlier, criminal court of Urgench city sentenced Sharofat Allamova, a member of the local Protestant Church, to one and a half years of corrective labor for “illegal production, possession, import or distribution of religious literature.”
To make a weighty accusation, the police, under the supervision of officers from the National Security Service (NSS), twice searched her house to find the forbidden. However, only few thinks were enough for charge: distribution of Christmas gifts, and possession of legal Christian literature and few CD discs.
Persecution of Christians in Uzbekistan continues and the cases of reprisals are rising. But the Uzbek authorities, as always, keep saying that the “constitution and laws of the country meet all international norms on freedom of religion.”
Sharofat now works in the home mahalla (Uzbek community) under the supervision of those, who were forced and manipulated to accuse her – a Christian.
The manipulation of the population by special services can be confirmed by the extremist statements of the NSS officer Ahmed Sotivoldiev, who, during the meeting with mahalla residents, said following: “Christians like you must be gathered in one place and burnt.” Sadly, judges were indifferent to such medieval “patriotism” of the security official.
Apparently, the delegation of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, headed by Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic, was not interested in the lawlessness caused by the Uzbek officials.
During his recent visit to Uzbekistan, Simonovic was quite satisfied with the official passage that “as a result of reforms in judicial system, the emphasis in activities of prosecutors is now on the protection of the rights, freedoms and interests of people, and as well as their implementation.”
Meanwhile, in the video interview for “Jarayon”, Sharofat Allamova told about challenges she faced as a result total lawlessness.
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