Blogger Sanzhar Karimov, sentenced to 5 years, is trying to challenge the court's decision through the UN and US authorities

Blogger Sanzhar Karimov, sentenced to 5 years, seeks review of court decision through UN and US authorities

Blogger Sanzhar Karimov, known as Real Sanjik, whom the court sentenced to five years in prison, is trying to challenge the verdict not only in the appellate court. His mother and sister — US citizens living in New York — along with Karimov, have appealed to the UN and US authorities, claiming that the criminal case was fabricated and that violations occurred during the consideration of the charges.

This was reported by Abdurakhmon Tashanov, chairman of the "Ezgulik" human rights society.

On May 8, the Mirzo-Ulugbek District Criminal Court of Tashkent found Karimov guilty under three articles of the Criminal Code — threat of murder or violence, large-scale fraud, and illicit drug trafficking. The blogger was sentenced to five years in prison in a general regime colony, as well as a fine of 410 basic calculation values. The verdict is currently being appealed.

While in custody, Karimov sent appeals to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and the Chairman of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Matthew Gillett. Copies of these appeals were also sent to the National Center of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Human Rights and the "Ezgulik" human rights society.

In his appeal, the blogger disagreed with the charges and presented his own version of events. According to him, violations were committed during the investigation and trial, which affected the consideration of the case.

One of the episodes concerns the threat charge. Earlier in court, the victim Feruza Rakhmatullaeva (mother of the convicted entrepreneur Shakhzod Rismatov) spoke of psychological pressure and threats to "bring her son's coffin from Dubai" and burn down their house. Karimov, however, claims in his appeal that he did not know Rakhmatullaeva personally and had no conflict with her. According to him, the key audio recording was presented to the court in an abbreviated and edited form, and the court refused to conduct a psychological-linguistic examination and request the original recording.

The defense requested to obtain the original recording and conduct a psychological-linguistic examination. As stated in the appeal, the court rejected these motions.

The blogger also disagrees with the fraud charge. Earlier at the hearings, the Olimboev family stated that their house, valued at $150,000, was re-registered under the guise of a purchase and sale agreement, and the money received was taken by Rismatov, who fled to Dubai, calling Karimov his accomplice. The blogger himself categorically rejects this version: he claims that he had no intent to deceive and suffered major financial losses himself by transferring funds to Rismatov. According to the defense, Karimov acted as a "creditor in good faith," and the dispute over the housing and money was of an exclusively civil-law nature and was settled between the parties. Therefore, the lawyers demand that the prosecution be terminated for lack of corpus delicti and that a legal assessment be given to Rismatov's actions.

At the same time, a week before the announcement of the verdict, Dzhamilya Olimboeva officially announced on her Instagram page the conclusion of the dispute over the ownership of the residential house. According to her, on April 30, on the basis of a court act, the property was re-registered in her mother's name through a notary office. The return of the property was carried out by the cousin of entrepreneur Sanzhar Karimov, in whose name the housing was previously registered.

Commenting on the appeals, human rights activist Abdurakhmon Tashanov spoke separately about the article on drug trafficking.

"Observing the development of the case, I, as a human rights activist, believe that the drug charge brought against Karimov is completely fabricated, and he must be acquitted. Currently, the case is at the appeal stage," Tashanov noted.

In addition, the blogger's mother Makhfuza Zakirova and his sister Nazira Karimova sent official letters to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Attorney General Todd Blanche, and the representative of the Administration of the President of Uzbekistan in the US Komil Allamzhonov. Using their status as US citizens, they ask to provide a legal assessment of the May 8 verdict, draw attention to violations of procedural norms, and assist in terminating the criminal prosecution.

In the letter, they ask to pay attention to the verdict and the arguments of the defense, as well as to assist in protecting Karimov's rights.

It should be noted that the allegations of violations during the investigation, distortion of evidence, and falsification of episodes represent the position of the defense and human rights activists. The court will make official conclusions on the validity of these claims based on the results of the appellate review of the case.