Interesting that the Matlyubovs are dismissed now -- according to uzmetronom.com, which of course is not a reliable source (it is described as a commercial publication censored by the Uzbek government, and may well be such, but it is notorious for leaking information from Uzbek law-enforcement and intelligence, and giving the Uzbek dictator Karimov a soft touch).
The presence of these two in in official police positions -- Bahodir Matlyubov was the Interior Minister and his brother Jamshid Matlyubgov was a district police chief -- was part of what made it so impossible to investigate the circumstances of the death of the singer Dilnura Kadyrjanova who was said to be Jamshid's mistress and the mother of his child.
Bahodir was described "from private sources" (!) by uzmetronom.com as having turned in his resignation on January 24. He was said to have long wanted to retire, and was 60 years of age -- and the news then came out that he had dismissed his brother in November 2011. Bahodir's resignation was supposedly confirmed by the fact that he didn't show up at his deputy's birthday party.
If these two really have fallen from grace or been pushed out of power by some other rivals, then it will be interesting to see whether the parents of the dead singer will now be able to get their grandchildren back. Strangely, Jamshid had all the children, his son and the singer's two daughters, given over to the custody of their nanny. That nanny and her brother then began the harassment-suing of human rights groups, including Ezgulik, that had taken up the defense of the singer's family. Will that harassment end now? It was enough to get several court decisions fining Ezgulik and making life miserable for them as their office equipment was confiscated.
I see that uzmetronom.com hasn't come up with a single story about the suspected terrorist Jamshid Muhtorov -- yet.
But I missed another nasty from Ezhov, the editor of uzmetronom.com, on the "suicide girl" story.
On December 14, he ran another story, dripping with sarcasm and seething with hatred, claiming that "disinformation about the suicide with the clear purpose of provoking disorders in Andijan was put out on the web by the former imam Mohammadsolih Abutov, who lives in Sweden, and the local-brew acting Mother Theresa Elena Urlaeva.
Uzmetronom.com cites the BBC story that debunked the hoax with interviews of the woman Hurshida Jurabaeva, who claimed to be her sister. Yet it does so misleadingly -- so typical of this tabloid site --by implying that the BBC claimed that Abutov was to blame by introducing that comment into the story. That's not the case. Abutov apologized for running the fake story, but said he thought it was true, it wasn't something he deliberately concocted.
Furthermore, we are still left with the odd ending to this story -- that Hurshida claims Uzbek intelligence put her up to the hoax and that a secret policeman was even still accompanying her abroad.
Uzmetronom.com says "we're not so naive as to believe the authors of this disinformation will admit their deliberate lie and publicly repent." Well, they don't claim that they made any deliberate lie?
And the question remains open why uzmetronom.com hurried to cover this with lightning speed, even claiming preposterously to be in direct touch with German border police who confirmed that there was no such person (!). And of course, the question remains open about why the EurasiaNet author hurried to reprint uzmetronom and call their expose "reliable".
Uzmetronom.com snarks more and more, saying everybody looks like they are covered with shit, and while they can speak of Uzmetronom.com as being "close to intelligence agencies" (they must be) they can't say that of the BBC, which ultimately exposed the hoax.
Meanwhile, Abutov continues to be harassed even while abroad, uznews.net reports. Now his name has been linked to the case of a student of Islamic University in Tashkent arrested for distributing leaflets.
According to police, the student, Fazliddin Zaynuddinov, corresponded with someone calling himself "Mohammadsolih Abutov" who said he was from the Tayanch website and gave the student an assignment to distribute the leaflets and told him to go to a certain place to receive $100. Police followed him and later arrested him.
Abutov said the entire story is concocted and he has nothing to do with the student.
Surat Ikramov, head of the Initiative Group of Human Rights Defenders of Uzbekistan, told uznews.net that the trap Zaynuddinov fell into became possible because the opposition has grown more active.
"As soon as the leaders united into the Popular Movement of Uzbekistan (PMU), these kinds of provocations began to take place aimed at discrediting its leaders," said Ikramov.
Abutov says the hoax about the suicide girl was similar, he got the information and in good faith published it, believing it to be true.
Uznews.net describes the authorities as deliberately trying to split the opposition by setting groups against each other. "They were successful in persuading the organization of Andijan refugees called Andijan Justice to leave the PMU. Then they dropped even the word 'Andijan' from their name, which had eloquently recalled the Andijan massacre of May 13, 2005" said uznews.net
Mohammad Salikh, a leader of the PMU and leader of the Erk Party, was dealt another blow recently with the sentencing of his brother Muhammad Bekjan to an additional five years of prison.
