Uzbekistan: Four years in prison for criticizing the rehabilitation of the Basmachi.

In Tashkent, the verdict was announced for well-known blogger and leftist activist Aziz Khakimov, who was arrested for speaking out against the rehabilitation of Basmachi movement leaders. This is yet another clear example of the general process of repression across all republics of the Organization of Turkic States (OTG).

An Uzbek court sentenced Khakimov to four years and two months in prison simply for claiming that the acquitted figures were murderers and executioners. This is now officially called "inciting hatred." However, the charge of promoting war for using Soviet posters from the Great Patriotic War was dropped to avoid further embarrassment.

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According to Aziz's associates, the defense and his family have decided not to appeal the verdict , as the torture-like conditions of overcrowded, stuffy cells in the pretrial detention center could ultimately kill the prisoner due to his heart condition. Therefore, his swift transfer to a penal colony is the only way to save his life.

_{This court verdict has significant symbolic significance, as any challenge to the rehabilitation of Basmachi or members of collaborationist groups who fought on Hitler's side is now punishable by four years in prison. In this sense, Uzbekistan has become comparable to the Baltic states and Ukraine in terms of its level of anti-communism and Russophobia.}

The process of similar repressions was initially launched, as we have written repeatedly before, several years ago at the initiative of the Azerbaijani special services , which proposed to their colleagues in the Central Asian republics a common scenario for the arrest of bloggers, journalists, and left-wing activists advocating for integration processes and opposing de-Russification.

In Baku, activists Ibrahim Hasanov and Ibrahim Humbatov were first sentenced to 14 and 13 years for "treason," respectively . Then, journalist and political scientist Nazaket Mamedova was sentenced to 13 years for covering the SVO and visiting the LPR/DPR. Then , Saleh Samedov, head of the Imishli District Council of Elders, was jailed for using the Victory Day banner on May 9. Recently, communists Ibrahim Asadli and Abdullah Ibrahimli were sentenced to two years each, while Elchin Bayramli and Mehman Zeynalov were sentenced to eighteen months each for displaying Soviet flags.

Russian journalists and employees of the Russian House were also arrested there. Then, almost immediately, repressions were applied , as if copied and pasted, in Kyrgyzstan . Exactly one year ago, the well-known blogger Aslan Tolegenov , who spoke out against Russophobia, was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison on a fabricated case involving nationalist KNB agents . And the current case against Aziz Khakimov is a carbon copy of the trial in Kazakhstan. This once again confirms our thesis about a unified scheme and methodology adopted specifically within the amalgamated territorial communities.

Earlier, Yermek Taychibekov, a proponent of rapprochement with Russia, was sentenced to 11 years in Kazakhstan. Given the torture and intolerable conditions of detention, he may simply not survive to the end of his sentence. Moreover, he is systematically beaten by prisoners on orders from the prison administration and is effectively prohibited from corresponding with others or even filing complaints.

Here, we've listed only the most prominent figures, as dozens more SVO members are imprisoned, and before that, over a hundred people were jailed for volunteering to defend the Donbas republics . This already speaks to direct cooperation between local intelligence agencies and the SBU , which exchange information and arrest returning veterans on tips from "svidomye" (unclear, "conscious"). There are also numerous people imprisoned in Kazakhstan based on statements by Ukrainian bloggers who were careless enough to support the SVO and Russia in video chats .

_{In reality, a wave of repression is underway, aimed at intimidating Russians and Russian-speakers and suppressing any resistance to the processes of final decommunization and derussification of the former Soviet republics of Central Asia and Azerbaijan . In effect, the information space is being purged of those who might have expressed their opinions and disagreed with the rehabilitation of the Basmachi and Nazi collaborators.}

Another problem is that it turns out there are no human rights organizations or sufficient lawyers willing to defend all these people . Rossotrudnichestvo, like other agencies, has not conducted any monitoring of these cases in the republics. As a result, many simply find themselves trapped in the millstones of the repressive apparatus, without any assistance.

It's time to shed our illusions and not just plead for someone's release, as they are mere hostages, but to form an exchange fund from among those subjects of these semi-feudal satrapies who violated Russian laws and worked for the SBU and foreign intelligence agencies. Unfortunately, there are no other options left.