TASHKENT, Uzbekistan – Podrobno.uz. A resident of the Pap district in Namangan region has been sentenced to 15 years and 2 months in prison for his involvement in an international terrorist organization, financing militants, and organizing an illegal channel to send compatriots to Syria.
According to case materials, the man began showing interest in extremist ideas while working in Russia, where he had gone for labor migration back in 2004. In 2009, together with an accomplice, he opened a halal food outlet near the Vykhino metro station in Moscow. This establishment hosted underground religious gatherings where the man watched lectures by Tahir Yuldashev, leader of the Islamic Movement of Turkestan, and recruitment videos calling for jihad.
In September 2010, he traveled to Iran and then moved to Pakistan. In North Waziristan, he joined the international terrorist organization Jamaat Ansarullah, swore allegiance under the pseudonym "Sodiq," and underwent military and explosive training at a militant camp.
In September 2012, via Turkey, he relocated to Syria's Idlib province, where he joined the al-Nusra Front, and from 2013 he became a supplier for Katibat Tawhid wal-Jihad. The investigation established that in late 2020, he opened a bakery in Idlib and regularly transferred 60% of its income (between $250 and $350 per week) to finance militant activities.
His activities later continued in Turkey, where he moved with his family in September 2021. While in Istanbul, he maintained ties with the terrorist groups Katibat Tawhid wal-Jihad and Katibat Ghuraba. From May to October 2025, together with accomplices, he organized a steady channel for illegally smuggling recruits from Turkey to Syria, charging between $500 and $1,000 per person. Among those he smuggled were dozens of Uzbek citizens, including women with young children, some under three years old. On October 11, 2025, he was detained by Turkish law enforcement while attempting to smuggle another group of recruits.
Additionally, under the guise of a cargo transportation business, he supplied militants in Syria with various goods, equipment, and spare parts. The investigation also found that via Telegram and WhatsApp messengers, under the pseudonym "Abu Asiya," he illegally collected, stored, and transferred copies of passports, biometric documents, and ID cards of citizens of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan to third parties.
During the investigation, he was charged under several articles of the Criminal Code, including violations of personal data legislation, mercenarism, terrorism, undergoing training for terrorist activities, financing terrorism, public calls for the violent overthrow of the constitutional order, creation of a criminal organization, and participation in banned organizations.
The court found him guilty and, considering the totality of crimes through partial addition of sentences, set the final term at 15 years and 2 months in prison. He will serve his sentence in a general-regime colony.
Source: podrobno.uz