The trial of religious figure Alisher Tursunov, aka Mubashshir Akhmad, is nearing its end in Tashkent's Uchtepa District Court.

The fourth hearing in the case took place on Thursday. The trial is open to the public, but with some restrictions: during the first hearing, Judge Bobur Rakhimov prohibited audio and video recording. The hearing, which began at approximately 5:40 PM, lasted approximately three hours and gathered over 50 people to the courthouse. Participants anticipated a verdict on Thursday.

The Uchtepa District Deputy Prosecutor Erkin Narzullaev demanded that Mubashshir Akhmad be found guilty under three articles of the Criminal Code:

• Article 156 (Incitement of national, racial, ethnic, or religious hatred);
• 244-1 (Production, storage, dissemination, or display of materials containing a threat to public safety and public order);
• 244-3 (Illegal production, storage, import, or dissemination of materials with religious content).

He requested a seven years of imprisonment and a fine of 150 BCUs (61.8 million soums).

The defense, for its part, petitioned to dismiss charges under two articles: "dissemination of materials threatening public safety and public order" and "incitement to national, racial, ethnic, or religious hatred."

Regarding the third count, the lawyers partially admitted to dissemination of materials without permission from the Committee on Religious Affairs, but noted that this act had ceased to pose a public danger. Therefore, they requested that the case be dismissed under Article 70 of the Criminal Code (Release from punishment due to the person no longer posing a public danger) and that the confiscated equipment and items be returned.

All three lawyers disagreed with the prosecution and expert testimony, filing objections on a number of items.

They also requested that Tursunov's health, his role in educating young people, and his status as the family's sole breadwinner be taken into account. The defendant himself supported his lawyers' arguments.

The judge announced that the defendant would be given a final statement on September 22, after which the court would retire to deliberate on the verdict.