09:52, 02 сентября 2020, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Tatyana KUDRYAVTSEVA
Charges have been brought against suspects in mass riots in Sokh district in Uzbekistan. Uzbek media reported with reference to the Prosecutor General’s Office of the republic.
It is noted that law enforcement officers of Fergana region arrested six suspects as part of an investigation into the riots that took place in Sokh district on May 31. The defendants were charged with mass riots and resistance to representatives of the authorities (Articles 244 and 219 of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan).
A video blogger Khaidarzhon Bobokhaidarov, known under the pseudonym Dadakhon Khaidarov, who covered the conflict in Sokh district, was detained and taken into custody. He has not yet been charged. He has the status of a suspect.
Recall, a conflict occurred on the border of Kyrgyzstan and the Uzbek exclave Sokh on May 31. More than 1,000 people took part in it. The reason for the clash was a dispute between residents of the Uzbek Chashma village and the Kyrgyz village of Chechme over a spring located in the border area.
During the riots, according to media reports, more than 200 people were injured, buildings and houses of citizens of both states were burned down.
The Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov arrived in Sokh on June 1 to resolve the incident on the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border.
According to journalists, then the blogger Khaidarzhon Bobokhaidarov, popular in Sokh district, who spoke to the prime minister at that time asked the head of the Uzbek government to solve a number of problems that have tormented local residents for years, as well as to replace the head of Fergana region, Shukhrat Ganiev. According to media reports, other residents also expressed dissatisfaction with the head of Fergana region that day. Some threw stones at the delegation headed by Shukhrat Ganiev.
Criminal cases were instituted on the facts of riots and other events in Sokh district. In August, law enforcement officers began to detain suspects.