A military court in Uzbekistan has sentenced staff members of the Taftish.uz outlet and former officers of the State Security Service to prison terms ranging from 4.1 to 10.6 years.

The project's head, Gayrat Aberayev, received 10.6 years, while journalist Marzhona Eshkuvatova was sentenced to 4.1 years. Two other editorial representatives, Azizjon Yuldashev and Sardor Khamidov, along with former SSS officers, were handed terms exceeding 10 years.

The defendants were found guilty of defamation, insult, fraud, and extortion. According to the closed-door court decision, they will serve their sentences in general-regime colonies.

The criminal case was investigated by military investigators. The defendants were detained on January 16.

According to the investigation, the accused used journalistic activities as a cover to systematically extort large sums of money from entrepreneurs and citizens, threatening to spread damaging and defamatory information.

Source: podrobno.uz