EU Wrong to Cite ‘Progress’ in Human Rights
Uzbek authorities should immediately and unconditionally release Akzam Turgunov, a human rights defender and opposition activist who was sentenced on October 23 to 10 years in prison on politically motivated charges, Human Rights Watch said.

A court in Manget, Karakalpakstan (a distant region of Uzbekistan), convicted him of extortion, less than two weeks after the European Union, on October 13, 2008, lifted sanctions on Uzbekistan, citing human rights “progress.” Turgunov has been seriously ill-treated in custody, and his trial manifestly violated fair trial standards.

“Now that the EU has lifted sanctions, the Uzbek government seems to feel freer than ever to crack down on dissidents,” said Igor Vorontsov, Uzbekistan researcher for Human Rights Watch. “Turgunov is yet another example of a human rights defender arrested on fabricated charges, ill-treated in custody, and subjected to a blatantly corrupt trial.”

Turgunov, 56, is the chairman of the Tashkent-based human rights organization Mazlum (“The Oppressed”), which is affiliated with the independent political party Erk (“Freedom”). Police in Manget arrested Turgunov on July 11 under circumstances that seemed to have been staged to frame him.
Link to HRW