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Uzbek Opposition Writer Says Authorities Have Arrested His Son Without Giving Reason


Jamol Kholboev, the son of opposition activist and writer Islom Kholboev
Jamol Kholboev, the son of opposition activist and writer Islom Kholboev

Opposition activist and writer Islom Kholboev says Uzbek authorities have arrested one of his sons without giving a reason for his detention.

Kholboev, who lives in self-imposed exile in Turkey, told RFE/RL on August 27 that officers from the Interior Ministry's anti-terrorism unit arrested his son, Jamol Kholboev, in Tashkent last week after he arrived from Turkey to renew his passport.

Islom Kholboev said that his son was arrested unlawfully and was not allowed to see his lawyers while in custody, where he may face torture.

Interior Ministry spokesman Shokhruh Ghiyosov did not say why Kholboev was arrested, but told RFE/RL that "no laws were violated" in his apprehension. He did not elaborate.

According to the Kholboev, his son's arrest can be linked to the writer's new book issued in Turkey recently, in which he describes torture in Uzbekistan's penitentiary system and corruption among the Central Asian nation's authorities.

Jamol Kholboev's lawyer, Arslan Shaimardanov, told RFE/RL that all of his requests to meet his client and to receive court papers on his arrest have been ignored.

Kholboev emigrated to Turkey along with his extended family in 2014.

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

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