Salijon Abdurahmanov

Abdurahmanov worked as a correspondent for Radio Free Europe until 2005. At the time of his arrest, he was a contributor to Voice of America's Uzbek service as well as the independent news site uznews.net. == Arrest for drug possession ==

On 7 June 2008, Abdurahmanov was stopped by traffic police, who searched his car and stated that they found of marijuana and of opium in the car. Abdurahmanov stated that the drugs had been planted in retaliation for a story he had recently published about alleged corruption of traffic police. After blood tests found no narcotics in Abdurahmanov's system, the authorities increased the charge to possession with intent to sell. On 10 October 2008, he was found guilty by a district court and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Front Line stated that it was "deeply concerned" by the arrest, The Committee to Protect Journalists called for Abdurahmanov's release and for the Uzbek government to be held accountable for his detention. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe stated that the drug charges were "made-up" and that Abdurahmanov's trial "did not stand the scrutiny of a fair procedure." Human Rights Watch called the conviction "an affront to human rights and free speech". Jeff Gedmin, president of Abdurahmanov's former employer Radio Free Europe, also spoke against the arrest, stating, "If President Islam Karimov is eager to rehabilitate his country's reputation, he should stop treating free speech as a criminal offense and let Abdurahmanov and nearly 20 other journalists and human rights defenders out of prison immediately." == "Imposter" incident ==

In late 2012, the International Committee of the Red Cross attempted unsuccessfully to meet with Abdurahmanov for several months. According to Abdurahmanov's son Davron, at one point, prison authorities introduced another man claiming to be Abdurahmanov to ICRC inspectors. The ICRC inspectors had seen a photograph of the real Abdurahmanov and refused to believe the imposter. == Release from prison ==

On 4 October 2017 Abdurahmanov was released after serving nine years and four months in prison. On his release he thanked human rights organisations for their advocacy. The UN Human Rights Council later ruled against Abdurahmanov's conviction and recommended that he be compensated for his arrest and unfair trial and imprisonment. As a result, Abdurahmanov made an application to the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan to have his conviction overturned. A half-hour court hearing on 23 September 2019 refused the application. In May 2020 Abdurahmanov gave an interview to Amnesty International in which he discussed the strength he had drawn from international letters of support while he was in prison. == Death ==

Abdurahmanov died in Germany on 26 July 2025, at the age of 75. == References ==