"They're killing me." An audio recording of Buzruk Buzrukov, who alleged torture and falsifications, has spread on social media. Video

"They're killing me." An audio recording of Buzruk Buzrukov has circulated on social media, claiming he was tortured and that his case was fabricated.

Buzruk Buzrukov, sentenced in 2024 to 13 years and 6 months in prison on charges of hooliganism and extortion, stated in audio recordings circulating on social media that his criminal case was fabricated and that he was pressured during the investigation. He also claims he is currently being physically abused in prison and fears for his life. These claims have not yet been publicly confirmed by law enforcement.

On August 31, audio recordings began circulating on social media, allegedly featuring Buzruk Buzrukov, a man sentenced in August 2024 to 13 years and 6 months in prison on charges of hooliganism and extortion.

In the recording, the man claims he did not commit the crime he was accused of and that the criminal case against him was falsified. He also claims that during the investigation, he was detained and coerced into giving testimony required by the investigation.

A particularly serious allegation concerns Doniyor Tashkhodjaev, the former first deputy head of the Tashkent Main Internal Affairs Directorate. According to the man in the recording, Tashkhodjaev personally told him during interrogation: "You will not leave here until you confess to everything."

The fact that this statement was uttered, as well as other allegations in the recordings, cannot currently be independently confirmed. However, this story is notable in that Tashkhodjaev himself was subsequently convicted in another high-profile criminal case.

Buzruk Buzrukov was detained by law enforcement agencies in late 2023 as part of the "Shock 40 Days" events held in Tashkent. The Tashkent City Police Department reported his detention in December 2023. At that time, he was suspected of hooliganism under Part 2 of Article 277 of the Criminal Code.

The case later went to trial.

On August 6, 2024, the Yashnabad District Criminal Court completed its consideration of the case of 38-year-old Buzruk Buzrukov. The court found him guilty under Article 277, Part 2, Item "a" of the Criminal Code—hooliganism resulting in moderate bodily harm—and Article 165, Part 3, Item "a" of the Criminal Code—extortion on an especially large scale.

Buzrukov was sentenced to 13 years and 6 months in a general regime penal colony.

According to case materials published after the sentencing, there were three counts.

The first occurred in 2012. In the spring of that year, Buzrukov, according to the criminal case materials, received sports nutrition products worth $2,020 from an acquaintance, B. Sh. According to the case file, he did not pay for the goods.

The second count occurred in July 2022. According to the prosecution, Buzrukov, in a Moscow establishment, attacked a man, Sh. V., without provocation, and inflicted moderate bodily harm on him.

The third count dates back to May 2023. According to the case materials, Buzrukov, together with D. Ibragimov, demanded $479,000 from a man, S. I., threatening him with bodily harm. According to published case materials, the victim gave them $13,000, after which the men divided the money between themselves.

It was for the combined charges that the court sentenced Buzrukov to a lengthy prison term.

After the verdict, Buzrukov's defense disagreed with the court's decision and filed an appeal.

The appeal hearing was scheduled for August 8, 2024, at the Tashkent City Court's Criminal Appeals Court. Several Uzbek media outlets reported this at the time, citing judicial authorities.

However, no detailed information about the outcome of this appeal could be found in accessible public sources. Therefore, it would be inappropriate to state what happened to the verdict after August 8 without additional court documentation.

It was later reported that Buzrukov had not been released and was serving his sentence in Penitentiary Institution No. 5 in the Navoi Region. Specifically, in 2025, after a photo of Buzrukov from Istanbul appeared on Instagram, law enforcement agencies stated that he had not been released and was still serving his sentence in Penal Colony No. 5 in the Kyzyltepa District of the Navoi Region.

Two years after the verdict, audio recordings surfaced on social media in which a man identified as Buzruk Buzrukov claims the criminal case against him was fabricated.

He claims he did not commit the crimes he was found guilty of, and that the prosecution was used to extract testimony from him against others.

According to the man in the recording, he was allegedly held in the basement of the Tashkent City Police Department for nine months during the investigation.

These statements are accompanied by an appeal allegedly sent to the head of the Presidential Administration, Saida Mirziyoyeva.

In the letter, the authors refer to Buzruk Buzrukov as a member of their family and claim he was subjected to torture and inhumane treatment. They claim the pressure was intended to extract testimony from him against certain individuals.

It is important to emphasize that the allegations of torture, illegal detention in a basement, and falsification of the criminal case are statements made by Buzrukov himself and his relatives and are not supported by the court documents provided to the editorial board.

The most serious part of the audio recording concerns the former first deputy head of the Tashkent Main Internal Affairs Directorate, Doniyor Tashkhodjaev.

The man in the recording claims that Tashkhodjaev was involved in his arrest and detention during the investigation.

Buzrukov also claims that during interrogation, Tashkhodjaev told him he would not be released until he "confessed to everything."

This assertion itself requires separate verification. There are no published interrogation protocols, audio recordings involving Tashkhodjaev, or other documents in open sources that would confirm this particular episode.

However, Tashkhodjaev's subsequent fate makes this part of the story particularly noteworthy.

Doniyor Tashkhodjaev did indeed hold the position of First Deputy Chief of the Tashkent Main Internal Affairs Directorate. He was dismissed in late November 2024, and on February 12, 2025, the Military Court of Uzbekistan convicted him.

Tashkhodjaev received a seven-year prison sentence for the attempted assassination of former Presidential Administration employee Komil Allamjonov.

It is important to accurately describe the basis for his conviction: according to reports of the verdict, Tashkhodjaev was found guilty of interfering in the investigation of the attempted assassination of Allamjonov.

On the same day, it was announced that Farkhod Khasanov had been appointed First Deputy Chief of the Tashkent Main Internal Affairs Directorate, replacing Tashkhodjaev.

Thus, the man whose name appears in Buzrukov's statements was indeed subsequently imprisoned in connection with another criminal case.

However, this circumstance alone does not confirm Buzrukov's accusations of torture or falsification of his case. These two criminal cases cannot be automatically linked without evidence.

An even more disturbing part of the audio recording concerns Buzrukov's current conditions of detention.

In the recording, the man claims he is being "killed" in the prison colony.

He says he fears he could be thrown onto concrete and then presented as an accident or a fall.

At one point, he repeats several times:

It was this part of the audio recording that prompted his relatives to appeal to Saida Mirziyoyeva, asking her to intervene.

The relatives claim that after Buzrukov's transfer to Penitentiary Institution No. 5 in the Navoi Region, the pressure on him continued.

The appeal places particular emphasis on the facility's director, AbduMalik Sodikov.

According to relatives, Buzrukov has been placed in solitary confinement four times over the past six months. They believe such frequent placements may be due not only to disciplinary violations but also to pressure on the prisoner.

The letter also claims that Sodikov explained that the events were "orders from above."

However, this information is still merely the relatives' assertions. There are no publicly available documents confirming Buzrukov's four placements in solitary confinement.

The authors of the appeal claim that Buzrukov's repeated placement in solitary confinement and other pressure measures may be aimed at transferring him to a closed area.

They believe that after such a transfer, he could end up in a cell-based system, where there is a risk of unlawful actions against him.

The family requests an investigation:

Buzrukov Buzrukov's story currently consists of two fundamentally different layers.

The part established by the court documents: in August 2024, the Yashnabad District Court found Buzrukov guilty under two articles of the Criminal Code and sentenced him to 13 years and 6 months in prison. The case materials included incidents from 2012, 2022, and 2023, including a charge of extorting $479,000, of which, according to the prosecution, $13,000 was extorted.

The latest part of the story: two years later, Buzrukov claims that the criminal case was falsified, that he was pressured during the investigation, and that he is now in danger in the penal colony.

There are no grounds yet to present these statements as established fact.

However, there are grounds to consider them serious accusations that require investigation.

This is especially true given that Buzrukov names specific individuals, the specific location of his alleged detention, the specific circumstances of the pressure, and describes the alleged violations during the execution of his sentence.

In such a situation, the key question is not how convincing the audio recording is, but whether the information contained in it can be confirmed or refuted.

This requires an independent verification of at least several circumstances.

First, the origin and authenticity of the audio recordings must be established.

Second, the history of Buzrukov's detention during the investigation must be verified: where exactly he was held, in what premises he was kept, who had access to him, and which officers conducted the investigative actions.

Third, Buzrukov's medical records for the period of investigation and detention must be reviewed. If he was indeed subjected to physical violence, the medical records may contain objective information about the injuries sustained.

Fourth, the prison's disciplinary records must be reviewed: how many times Buzrukov was actually placed in solitary confinement, for what violations, for how long, and who made the decisions.

Finally, allegations that prison staff allegedly cited some kind of "order from above" require a separate investigation.