Court delivers verdict against Mubashshir Ahmad

Religious scholar and blogger, as well as founder of the information-analytical portal Azon Global, Mubashshir Ahmad (real name Alisher Tursunov), has been sentenced to two years and six months of imprisonment. The information was reported by Aziz Obidov, spokesperson for the Supreme Court. 

Today, October 8, the Uchtepa district criminal court concluded the first-instance hearing in his criminal case.

According to the announced verdict, Mubashshir Ahmad was found guilty under Article 156, part 2 (incitement of national, racial, ethnic, or religious enmity), Article 244-1, part 3, paragraph ’’g’’ (preparation, storage, distribution, or display of materials threatening public security and public order), and Article 244-3 (illegal preparation, storage, import, or distribution of religious materials) of the Criminal Code.

Applying Article 57 (Imposing a lighter punishment), in accordance with Articles 59 (Imposing punishment for multiple crimes) and 61 (Rules for calculating combined punishments) of the Criminal Code, the court sentenced him to two years and six months of imprisonment. The punishment is to be served in a general regime colony.

In addition, the court ordered the suspension and blocking of pages (channels) on Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, and YouTube registered under the names Mubashshir Ahmad and Azon Global – Alternative Information and Analytical Channel.

The Uchtepa district criminal court also announced that both parties have the right to file an appeal or cassation protest with the Tashkent city criminal court in accordance with the procedure and time limits established by law.

On October 2 at 16:00, the next hearing in the case of religious scholar and blogger Mubashshir Ahmad (Alisher Tursunov), founder of the information-analytical portal Azon Global, was supposed to take place at the Uchtepa district criminal court. However, the session was postponed again due to the judge handling the case being on medical leave.

It is worth noting that this is not the first time the hearing in Tursunov’s case has been postponed. The first court session was held on August 19, but was adjourned to September 8 because some witnesses failed to appear. During the second session, the witnesses who attended were unable to provide sufficient evidence to support the charges, leading the court to postpone the hearing to September 15. The session scheduled for September 29 was also delayed and moved to October 2.