The Tashkent city police said it had opened a criminal case against journalists from Taftish.uz. The news publication is known for conducting investigations based on complaints from individuals.
Those involved in the case include the publication's director, Gayrat Aberaev, 37, as well as employees Azizjon Yuldashev, 33, Sardor Khamidov, 25, Marjona Eshkuvvatova, 19, and Dilshod Nishonov, 27.
They were detained on January 16 on suspicion of committing crimes under Extortion and Fraud charges of the Criminal Code. Law enforcement agencies are investigating their possible involvement in crimes under Defamation and Dissemination of false information charges.
The Tashkent city police department underscored that additional information on the case would be provided later. They denied reports of the publication's closure.
In November 2023, a criminal case was opened against Gayrat Aberaev, who was accused of fraud and attempted bribery.
According to the Unified State Register of Enterprises and Organizations EGRPO, Elita-Media, the company that owns the Taftish.uz website, was incorporated in September 2019. Currently, Aberaev is listed as its director, and Dilshod Irgashev as its founder. The Taftish.uz website was registered as a media outlet on March 24, 2021.
The last publications on the website were published on January 13. The publication has 272,000 subscribers on YouTube, 234,000 on Instagram, and 33,400 on Telegram.
