Uzbek journalist requests refugee status in Kyrgyzstan

09:47, 07 сентября 2020, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Darya PODOLSKAYA

Application for granting refugee status to opposition journalist from Uzbekistan Bobomurod Abdullaev was accepted for consideration. One of his lawyers Natalya Kotik informed 24.kg news agency.

According to her, if a positive decision is made, the lawyers have the right to challenge the deportation of their client. The lawyer stressed that they submitted two applications — to the High Commissariat and the State Service for Migration Affairs, and none of the structures denied it. Consideration is also not suspended.

In addition, the lawyers intend to go to court on the fact of the use of torture by the State Committee for National Security against Bobomurod Abdullaev.

Bobomurod Abdullaev came to Kyrgyzstan at the invitation of the American University of Central Asia (AUCA) for a four-month training. However, after completing the training, Abdullaev was unable to leave the country due to the closure of state borders because of coronavirus pandemic.

He was detained by the special services at the request of the Uzbekistan’s authorities. By a court decision, he was taken into custody for two months and is kept in the pre-trial detention center of the State Committee for National Security.