Former Lawmaker Under Investigation for Online Comments
Former Uzbekistan Legislative Chamber member and current advisor to the Minister of Ecology, Rasul Kusherbayev, found himself in the midst of controversy after his mobile phone was confiscated during a summons to the Yangiyul District Police Department on April 19. The Tashkent Regional Police Department confirmed that the summons was a result of a complaint filed by a citizen.
Kusherbayev stated that his phone, which he claims had no relevance to the case, was seized by officers who also gathered information about him from his neighbors. The Tashkent Region Department of Internal Affairs revealed that the complaint against Kusherbayev came from a citizen named R.F., who accused him of posting defamatory and insulting content on social media.
Law enforcement officials conducted procedural actions on April 19 as part of a preliminary investigation into the complaint. Under Articles 157 and 159 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the decision was made to temporarily seize and examine Kusherbayev’s mobile phone in order to thoroughly investigate the claims made in the complaint. The investigation is still ongoing, authorities emphasized.
Responding to public backlash, the police dismissed claims that Kusherbayev’s detention was arbitrary or politically motivated and clarified that the seizure of his phone was done in accordance with legal procedures. They urged the public and media outlets to refrain from spreading unverified information and warned about the consequences of interfering with law enforcement work or attempting to influence legal proceedings through social media.
Kusherbayev later revealed that the complaint stemmed from a social media post in which he made a derogatory remark. He expressed confusion as to why his phone was seized for text analysis in this situation.
The police department assured that the citizen’s complaint is being thoroughly examined in accordance with the country’s laws and can be appealed through established mechanisms. They advised against jumping to conclusions and emphasized the importance of allowing the legal process to unfold.
