RFE/RL's Uzbek Service relies on innovation and a wide network of local sources and platforms to uncover news and engage with audiences in one of the world’s most restrictive societies.
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev has pardoned hundreds of convicts to mark the country's Independence Day, which was celebrated on September 1.
A mysterious construction site is expanding in an expensive district of Uzbekistan’s capital, covering millions of dollars' worth of land. A new RFE/RL investigation has found that the project is tied to the president’s son-in-law -- a public servant.
Uzbek athletes have won an unprecedented eight gold medals at the Paris Olympics, as well as two silver and three bronze medals.
Central Asian athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympics have been punching above their weight this summer, taking home numerous medals in martial arts, shooting, and boxing events, among others. Iran and Pakistan have scored big too.
Kyrgyzstan has issued an arrest warrant for imprisoned Uzbek criminal boss Salim Abduvaliev.
Amid an ongoing crackdown on criminal bosses, a Tashkent court on August 5 sentenced notorious Uzbek criminal kingpin Saidaziz Saidaliev to 20 years in prison on charges of extortion, organizing a criminal group, illegal drugs possession, money laundering, and hooliganism.
Uzbekistan's Interior Ministry said on August 4 that its officers detained 30 individuals, including 12 foreigners, in Tashkent on suspicion of organizing illegal online gambling operations.
Uzbekistan's Central Election Commission (MSK) announced on July 26 that parliamentary and local elections will be held in the Central Asian nation on October 27.
A Tashkent court on July 19 sentenced notorious Uzbek criminal kingpin Baxtiyor Qudratullaev, known in the criminal world as Bakhti Tashkentsky, to 20 years in prison on charges of extortion and illegal drugs possession.
Uzbek rights defender Abdurahmon Tashanov said on July 15 that police in the Tashkent region have arrested noted blogger Sherali Komilov from the southeastern region of Qashqadaryo on charges of fraud, slander, and causing insult.
Gulnara Karimova, the jailed daughter of former Uzbek President Islam Karimov, “gets what she wants” in prison, a former inmate claims, with food delivered from outside and a uniform made from high-quality fabric. The reports contrast with past complaints by Karimova of mistreatment.
Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has warned of the “slow death of journalism” in a largely Turkic-speaking autonomous region of northwestern Uzbekistan amid a violent crackdown since local protests two years ago.
Cultivating silkworms is an ancient, labor-intensive task shared by entire Uzbek families. As worms grow to several times their original size, families ensure they're fed and cared for with the utmost attention for weeks. But cocoons fetch less than $3 per kilogram and growers often wait to be paid.
Notorious kingpin Bakhtiyor Qudratullaev -- the man who brazenly organized a gathering of "thieves-in-law" or high-ranking crime bosses from across the post-Soviet space in Tashkent in 2018 -- is going on trial in Uzbekistan.
Uzbek authorities labeled a Karakalpak group as extremist and banned it in February, the Turkmen Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights said citing Moscow-based human rights defender Vitaly Ponomaryov.
Uzbekistan’s highest Islamic authority has revoked a fatwa against cryptocurrency, blaming “carelessness” for its appearance online and saying it is still studying the issue.
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived on May 26 in Uzbekistan, where he was met at the Tashkent airport by President Shavkat Mirziyoev amid reports some Western nations are trying to pull Central Asian nations away from Russia’s sphere of influence.
Uzbekistan's Foreign Labor Migration Agency on May 17 called on the Central Asian nation's citizens who may have broken laws in Russia to avoid travel to neighboring Kazakhstan, citing Kazakh-Russian agreements on joint efforts against crime.
The Supreme Court of Uzbekistan has exonerated posthumously 198 individuals convicted by Soviet regime in the 1920-1930s for "counter-revolutionary actions, armed uprisings, terrorism, banditry and espionage, and anti-Soviet activities."
Friends in high places come with lucrative benefits in Uzbekistan. For a phantom company with connections to the president’s son-in-law, these included tens of millions of dollars in opaque state contracts, a new RFE/RL investigation has found.
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