A court in Tashkent sentenced the head of the online outlet Demokrat.uz, Fazliddinkhon Mehmonov, to 10 years and three months in prison, and blogger Aziz Goipnazarov to 10 years and one month, the press service of the capital’s courts said.
The Mirabad District Criminal Court found Mehmonov, born in 1998 and previously convicted, guilty of extortion, fraud and illegal trafficking in firearms, ammunition and other items under Articles 165, 168 and 248 of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan. Goipnazarov, 35, and also previously convicted, was found guilty of extortion under Article 165.
Both will serve their sentences in a general-regime penal colony. The court also ordered Mehmonov to compensate the victims for material damage.
The convicted men can file an appeal or a cassation complaint against the first-instance ruling.
In February, Tashkent Police Department reported that Mehmonov had been detained while receiving $17,000. It adedd that he and Goipnazarov were suspected of extorting $50,000 in exchange for removing an article about a car dealership in Sergeli district.
