Tashkent-based human rights activist Abdurahmon Tashanov said on December 18 that a court in the eastern Uzbek region of Andijon sentenced blogger Otabek Ahliddinov to seven years and one month in prison on charges of financial fraud. The court found Ahliddinov, a physician in a local hospital known for his blogs criticizing the Central Asian state's government, guilty of embezzling 200 million soms ($16,000). It is not clear how Ahliddinov pleaded. Several bloggers known for being critical of the government have been handed lengthy sentences on fraud charges in recent years. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Uzbek Service, click here.
