Print this pageFor Immediate Release
October 31, 2002
Mother testifies that Uzbekistan State security officer forced her to sign statement against son
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan—Today, criminal prosecution of 26-year-old Marat Mudarisov continued in the Akmal Ikramovskiy Court before Judge Sherzod Usmanov. Mudarisov was allowed in the courtroom but was confined in a prisonlike cage. His mother testified that a major in the State security service pressured her to sign a statement implicating her son. Mudarisov, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, is being tried under Article 156.1 of the Criminal Code for allegedly inciting religious hatred.
His mother, Nuria Mudarisova, not one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, told the court that during the investigation she was interrogated by Major Ilkhom Tolanov, a State security officer. “Yes, I signed a statement on July 19, 2002, which said my son was organizing illegal [religious] gatherings of people of different nationalities. I was being pressured. My son and I were being detained. Tolanov said he would not let us go unless I signed. I saw him hit and threaten my son. What else could I do?”
Tolanov had testified earlier. Arli Chimirov, one of the defense attorneys, commented: “When he was under cross-examination, he could not remember any dates, times and even documents that he had earlier written and were shown to him.”
The trial is expected to continue on Tuesday, November 5, 2002, at 10:00 a.m.
Contact: J. R. Brown, telephone: (718) 560-5600