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Salijon Abdurahmanov is an Uzbek journalist who contributed to Radio Free Europe, Voice of America and uznews.net. In October 2008, he was given a ten-year prison sentence for marijuana and opium possession. He asserted his innocence of the charges, stating that the drugs were planted by police officers. Several international human rights NGOs called for his release, including Amnesty International, which designated him a prisoner of conscience. In 2014 he was awarded the Johann Philipp Palm prize for freedom of expression and the press. He was freed from detention in October 2017.
Arif Yunusov, also known as Arif Yunus, is an Azerbaijani author, historian, and human rights activist. He is the head of the Department of Conflict and Migration of the Institute of Peace and Democracy. Arif Yunusov along with his wife Leyla are supporters of a peaceful resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. On 28 April 2014, Arif Yunusov and his wife Leyla were jailed on charges of extortion and treason for allegedly spying for Armenia. After being detained, Arif Yunusov was sentenced to 7 years in jail; his wife, Leyla Yunus, was sentenced to 8.5 years in jail. Their sentences were suspended 15 months later and the couple was allowed to leave for the Netherlands.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "ALISHER KARAMATOV AND AZAM FARMONOV, PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE". Amnesty International. Archived from the original on 2011-04-29. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
- 1 2 3 "Imprisoned Human Rights Defenders in Uzbekistan". Human Rights Watch. 5 February 2010. Archived from the original on 27 March 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
- 1 2 "Uzbekistan: Broader Criminal Charges Used to Quash Dissent". Human Rights Watch. 20 June 2006. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
- ↑ "Uzbekistan - Ongoing detention and deterioration in health of human rights defender Alisher Karamatov". Front Line. 10 December 2008. Archived from the original on 4 March 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.