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Uzbekistan: Abduction Said To Be Aimed At Quieting Dissent


By Mohammad Turan



Prague, 13 November 1996 (RFE/RL) - The son of a leading Uzbek opposition leader said yesterday that his weekend abduction was probably intended to quiet his father's criticism of the government.

Hasan Mirsaidov, the son of former government official and now opposition figure Shukhrullo Mirsaidov, made the comment in an interview with RFE.

The younger Mirsaidov said he was hit over the head and abducted last Saturday. The armed men who took him from his home never stated clearly the purpose for the action, and released him after 12 hours.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch-Helsinki yesterday accused the government of being behind Hasan Mirsaidov's abduction.

Shukhrullo Mirsaidov, who has criticized the government for its human rights and economic policies, told RFE that his family should not be targeted for the stands he takes. Helsinki Watch said the incident was the sixth attack on his family since the elder Mirsaidov, a former Communist Party official, broke with Uzbek President Islam Karimov in 1993.

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