As some of you may have seen in yesterday’s link roundup, Nodira Hidoyatova has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The court found Hidoyatova guilty of committing “heavy and especially heavy crimes that have damaged the [Uzbek] state,” Isaev said. The seven charges included tax evasion, money laundering, and membership in an organized criminal group, and ruled that her company, Buyuk Siymolar, must pay $230,000 in back taxes. The judge also said Hidoyatova would be banned from holding any “position of responsibility” for three years after her release.
I do not have much to say about this. The idea that the Uzbek government takes tax evasion and money laundering seriously enough that we can assume this was a fair prosecution is laughable. It’s sad and a symptom of the political climate in Uzbekistan. And even worse, there’s more or less nothing to be done about it.
Not everyone thinks that, apparently. Craig Murray is part of that group.
With yet again no effective protest from the international community, another major leader of the Uzbek democratic opposition is packed off to torture camp. Nodira is a personal friend of mine and I am deeply sad.
She is not, doubtless, a personal friend of my replacement. I was sacked for trying to help democracy and stop this kind of thing. Where now is the British Embassy. Where was my successor, David Moran, when this sentence was passed?
Doubtless doing nothing but swanning from cocktail party to golf course with his mouth, eyes and ears closed, as a good diplomat should,
What an asshole. And really, I mean a grade-a, top-of-the-line prick. And if anyone wants to make a comment on me being mean, impolite, or unfair, save it. I’m holding my tongue. Nothing about this kind of rhetoric deserves the least bit of fairness in response. He doesn’t deserve to even hint at his cross while in the same breath speaking of true suffering.
Craig’s a member of the international community with a large community of know-nothings who slavishly regurgitate his opinions and caricatures of relations between Uzbekistan and the West. So, right on him. If he’s heaping blame on others, he should man up and shoulder some of the burden himself.
And did he have the magical power to free people when he was ambassador? Does any ambassador ever? And if he or a US ambassador could have at one time secured the realease of someone like Hidoyatova, might there perhaps be a more realistic explanation than saying they were too busy at cocktail parties? (The nerve of this guy saying that too…)
Like just about every last aspect of Uzbek governance nowadays, this case and Sanjar Umarov’s are sad. And like I said, what makes it even worse is that there is little we in the West can do about it. Poseurish name-calling and grandstanding may help sell books, but they don’t do anyone one bit of help.
This post was written by...
Nathan Hamm – author of 2040 posts on Registan.net.
Nathan founded Registan.net in 2003. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan 2000-2001 and received his MA in Central Asian Studies from the University of Washington in 2007. Since 2007, he has worked full-time as an analyst, consulting with clients on Central Asian affairs, specializing in how socio-cultural factors shape risks and opportunities. Follow him on Twitter or drop him a line.
{ 14 comments }
At least Murray is doing something, taking chances, rather thsn just being a whiny little asshole like yourself – squealing loudly, doing nothing.
I genuinely believe that in four or five cases we did actually get people out of jail. I think it says so in the official FCO Human Rights reports, but I don’t have them on me.
I am genuinely friends with the Khidayatova family, and we remained in email contact after I left Tashkent. My post reflected my anguish at not being able to do anything practical to help. And a real despair at the pusillaniomous attitude of the British government, which refuses to admit that this is a show trial and trumped up charges, and issues fatuous calls for a “Fair trial”, as if such a thing were possible in Uzbekistan.
Nathan, I am not the enemy. Karimov is.
Typo in pusillanimous
Bob, what’s he doing again? Complaining? Check my track record of criticisms, which, I might add, attempt to treat the situation with a little more seriousness and accuracy than rhetoric. And feel free to come back and have me give two shits about your criticism of me after you’ve lived, taught, and helped run women’s leadership activities in Uzbekistan, let alone been trying to publicize and clarify Central Asia issues for 2 1/2 years. (My second post was about a political prisoner, by the way.) What makes your opinion count for even less to me is that you don’t seem to know what the geopolitical situation in Central Asia is. Your active participation in a borderline Stalinist organization is just icing on the cake.
Craig:
Nathan, I am not the enemy. Karimov is.
Exactly, and just for the record, Craig, I don’t think you are. I also don’t think that the FCO is. Nor do I think the Bush administration or the US State Department are. What bothers me most about your rhetoric is that you seem to be much more interested in attacking those in the West who are not doing an unspecified “enough.”
Does the FCO really “refuse” to admit that it’s a show trial or have they just not said anything about it? I know you and I have a difference of opinion on what diplomacy should be like, so I’m only repeating myself by saying I don’t think endlessly activist behavior is the proper role of diplomatic missions. The US has occasionally made mentions of the Umarov trial, but I don’t think talking about it more will do any good.
Karimov’s not listening, so I don’t know why you’re going after the current ambassador when it’s fairly clear to serious observers that it’s unlikely he can do anything about the situation. Given your history, it smacks more of a vindictive agenda than the all too common tendency of the left to not attack the perpetrators of atrocities, but their own government for not doing “enough.”
BTW, I don’t doubt you really are friends with the family or are genuinely upset by the conviction. I apologize if I gave an impression otherwise.
Nathan, I think you’re coming on a bit aggressively. Considering his history, and the fact that most everyone who truly cares about Uzbekistan is frustrated with many aspects of the situation, I don’t think what Murray said was so abhorrent to call him all sorts of nasty names.
Back to the subject at hand… I’ve heard that the conviction rate in Uzbekistan is incredible, somewhere around 99% of trials end in the defendant being found guilty. Considering that it’s only about 50-60% in America, the only conclusion that I can come up with is that the police in Uzbekistan are a lot more efficient and effective than in America.
Why I came on as strong as I did is that 1.5 out of 7 sentences of that post are actually about Nodira. The rest are about him or how everyone else screwed up. None of them even come close to mentioning that everything adds up to one big exclamation mark on how desperate the situation is.
I don’t deny he cares. But launching into standard talking points here feels about as tasteful as using someone’s funeral as a platform for one’s point of view.
Yeah ok, laying blame at everyone but him is a callow thing to do, but I think you should at least consider that what he’s trying to promote is a general philosophy where realpolitik is trumped by general principles of human rights and fairness. Whether it’s naive is one thing, but I don’t think it deserves being shut down.
I also don’t think that the American and British governments are above all criticism.
I don’t think they are either, but they’re not to blame for everything. And I don’t think the point of view needs to be shut down at all. It often needs to be reminded not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good and who the real enemies are though. I especially don’t think it should be given a pass because it’s heart is in the right place either.
Well, some of us are also friends of the Hidoyatova and Umarov families, and talk to them almost every day. Some of us are still here in UZ and feeling the incredible frustration of being able to do very little except try and raise more international attention to what’s going on.
Mr. Murray’s attack on the current British ambassador – and apparently everyone else in his sights – is completely unwarranted. He wasn’t much of a diplomat when he was a diplomat. Now he’s not even civil. Be ashamed, Mr. Murray. Be very ashamed.
I just want to make especially clear in case there’s any lingering confusion (mostly as another response to Brian) that as much as I disagree with the attack on the current ambassador, etc., what really harshes my mellow here is the context in which the attack is taking place.
Bertrand,
I should be delighted to be proved wrong. What is the British Embassy doing on the case, and what has the Ambassador said which helps your aim, which I entirely share, of drawing international attention to these abuses?
I am sorry, but I don’t immediately recall you from Tashkent. Did we meet?
Craig,
Let’s just say we attended some of the same meetings and leave it at that.
Hidoyatovas trial sould be seen as “Spider vs Fly” situation Karimov being the “Spider”. Fucker(karimov) does it every time someone is in opposition to his regime.Regardless of what the Fly may say or do the Spider will kill it. You see the sing is that Karimov keeps pretending that what he is doing isn’t just a dictatorship. I don’t know who he is trying to fool.I talk to refugees from Uzbekistan from time to time. What I hear from them gives me almos a physical pain. Unfortunatly, there is nothing that I can do at this time to change the situation in Uzbekistan for the better.