“It would be more accurate to call the accusation a ‘conclusion of slander’” — blogger Sirojiddin Odilov

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“It would be more accurate to call the indictment a ‘conclusion of slander’” — blogger Sirojiddin Odilov

At the court hearing held in the Mirzachul district criminal court on September 24, the prosecutor requested a 6-year prison sentence for the accused blogger Sirojiddin Odilov. This was reported by a "Daryo" correspondent who attended the trial.

In March, blogger Sirojiddin Odilov, known as "Sirojiddin Media," was arrested on suspicion of fraud. In connection with the situation, a criminal case was initiated against him under Part 2 of Article 168 (fraud) and Article 211 (bribery) of the Criminal Code, and a precautionary measure in the form of detention was applied to the blogger.

According to the defendant's lawyer, Ozod Juraboyev, none of the charges brought against Sirojiddin Odilov were proven in court.

The trial lasted a long time. The same trial had also continued in the city of Jizzakh. During the judicial investigation, not a single accusation was proven even by 15 percent. That is, both the arguments and the words remained empty talk and were not confirmed. Based on this, our position is that no criminal event took place here at all, the lawyer said.

The defendant Sirojiddin Odilov claims that injustice against him began from the very moment of his initial arrest.

It started with injustices regarding the precautionary measure of detention. That is why we asked to transfer the case from Samarkand. Because they could have imprisoned me there. The indictment also makes no sense at all. It would be more accurate to call it a "conclusion of slander." Just words. There is not a single piece of evidence. After three years, they are saying that we deceived them and allegedly received some kind of material benefit from them. As evidence of this, they are showing our own contracts. The contract does not say extortion contract. There is a service contract there. We provided the service and did not even receive the money. Okay, if you paid the money, show it to us, there should be a receipt or some kind of payment order. Where is it? There is nothing. The arguments presented for the articles I am being charged with are nothing but talk, the defendant said.

For reference, Sirojiddin Odilov is known on social networks as "Sirojiddin Media," with nearly 1 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, about 50,000 on Facebook, and over 30,000 on Instagram. He has mainly made appearances on legal and social issues.