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[Date] His Excellency President Islam Abduganievch KarimovRezidentsiya prezidenta Tashkent 70000 Republic of Uzbekistan Fax: + 998 71 139 5625
H. E. Rashidjon Hamidovich Kodirov Your Excellencies, I am writing to express my serious alarm over reports that Ruslan Sharipov appeared at an appeal hearing on September 25th with suspicious facial injuries, and to express my disappointment that the five-and-a-half-year prison sentence against the journalist was upheld by the same court. I understand that Mr. Sharipov was arrested on May 26, 2003 and refused bail and that police at first denied him access to a lawyer. He initially proclaimed his innocence on all charges, which centered on an alleged sexual encounter with male minors. However, on August 8th, Sharipov changed his plea to guilty, dismissed his legal team and asked that his mother (the trial's only outside witness) be removed from the court. Sharipov also offered to plead for forgiveness from President Islam Karimov and retract all the Internet articles he had written between 2001 and 2003 in which he had criticized the government. Sharipov is reported to have told his lawyer afterwards that he was coerced by law enforcement officers into taking these actions for his own safety and that of his legal team and his mother. Nevertheless, he was found guilty under Articles 120, 127 and 128 of Uzbek law, all of which condemn homosexual acts despite the fact that forensic medical tests conducted after his arrest found no evidence that he had had sexual relations with the minors. I fear that Ruslan Sharipov's closed trial was unfair and that he has been sentenced in reprisal for his criticisms of the Uzbek government. I am also extremely fearful for his safety in detention. I therefore urge the Uzbek authorities to release Ruslan Sharipov immediately pending an independent review into his trial and the sentences upheld against him. Sincerely, [Your name and signature]
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