Uznews.net – Police in Margilan in Fergana Region have prevented human rights activist Mutabar Tajibayeva from travelling to Tashkent to take part in Bastille Day celebrations organised by the French embassy. On 14 July, when the French embassy held the Bastille Day reception, Mutabar Tajibayeva, who was invited to it, was placed under house arrest.
The chief of Margilan police, Kamoliddin Obidov, telephoned her on that day to warn that her early release meant that she could not leave Margilan.
In a statement, Mutabar Tajibayeva said that the court ruling on her release did not mention a single word about her losing freedom of movement.
Jailed for eight years in spring 2006, Mutabar Tajibayeva, 45, was released on 2 June after spending two years and eight months in prison over health concerns.
When she was released, Tajibayeva said, she had to take obligations that she would appear before police on the fifth and 25th day of each month, maintain public order, not leave her town and pay a fine imposed by court.
“The document does not say a word that I should not go to Tashkent in any circumstance,” Mutabar said.
Moreover, Interior Ministry and Justice Ministry officials told Human Rights Watch representatives at recent meetings in Tashkent that Tajibayeva had the right to travel in the country.
Tajibayeva needs to go to Tashkent to undergo a medical check because she had a hysterectomy while serving her prison term.
She wants to establish the reasons for the operation and find out whether she is suffering from cancer but the local authorities are obstructing her travel. “This is a real torture,” she says.
After the operation, doctors told Mutabar that she had to be under permanent observation by oncology doctors.
“Persistence by doctors who were worried about my health has become the very reason for my release,” Mutabar said. “Now I want to know what happened to me but they are not allowing me to do this.”
