Help Free Innocent Journalist Sobirjon Yakubov

Dear Mr. George Bush, the President of the United States of America,

on April 11, 2005 Uzbek authorities arrested 22 year-old journalist from Uzbekistan Sobirjon Yakubov on false grounds accusing him of "undermining the constitutional regime" in the country. His arrest was followed by a cynical meeting of first deputy minister of internal affairs, Alisher Sharafutdinov, on April 15 during which he said the government and his ministry did not have any special list of Uzbek journalists subject to persecution. He called such allegations "absurd". The meeting took place at the request of a group of independent and foreign-media journalists following an article on the Internet by an unknown journalist on alleged plans of the Uzbek Interior Ministry to attack independent journalists according to their special "black list".

Sitting at the table and talking to journalists, Mr. Sharafutdinov knew that a few days earlier his agency had already arrested a young journalist on charges of "undermining the constitutional regime".

All the colleagues of Sobirjon Yakubov and people who know him well are shocked by his arrest. They refuse to believe he might be part of anti-government conspiracy calling him a "decent, hard-working man with good manners".

Mr. Yakubov is the winner of the Alisher Navoi stipend program, one of the highest educational government fellowship programs. He is also a nominee to receive the highest fellowship program - Presidential Stipend. Lately he's been working for non-government "Hurriyat" newspaper. He is also pursuing his Master's at the National University of Uzbekistan. Sometime ago he was given President Karimov's gifts - books signed by the president personally - for Yakubov's outstanding academic performance.

One of his striking articles was devoted to Ukrainian journalist Georgiy Gongadze who was killed by the previous Ukrainian regime. That article could have triggered the authorities to arrest him trying to find in his article a plot against the Karimov regime.

As you know, the Karimov regime has become very wary of any attempts to build an open society in Uzbekistan, especially following the regime changes in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. A number of other journalists have been arrested in the past two years and a lot of American organizations supporting free press were shut down or denied annual re-registration. The Open Society Institute, Internews, the National Republican Institute are only a few to name.

Mr. President, we all appreciate your hard work in bringing democracy into the Middle East and other places in the world that lack it. We appreciate America's sacrifice in ridding the Iraqi people of their bloody dictator and planting seeds of democracy on the Iraqi soil.

We, in Uzbekistan, would also like to remind you that Uzbekistan is one such country. However the attention of your administration to human rights problems has sharply declined following Karimov's assistance to the United States in war against international terror and thus Uzbek peoples' support for the Republican Party's policies has dropped too.

Don't you think that by ignoring the history and supporting corrupt and repressive regimes, like Karimov's, the United States is laying a foundation for another monster. Think of how the Taliban came to existence after the people of Pakistan felt abandoned once the Soviet Union was defeated in Afghanistan and the United States dropped its pledge to keep assisting Pakistan.

Same process is occurring in Uzbekistan. By repressing devout Muslims, by denying people ordinary economic and civil conditions, by rejecting alternative voices and secular parliament opposition, the Karimov regime is nurturing Islamic extremism, anti-Westernism and anti-Americanism, because people in Uzbekistan do not see America's role in assisting democratization processes in Uzbekistan. This leads them to believe that America helps only oil-rich countries.

Mr. President, you should use your authority, principles based on which America exists and your second presidential term to dissolve such a belief and feelings existent in the Uzbek society and among Uzbek intellectuals.

We all look for your leadership and courage to influence on the Uzbek leadership to demand the release of Mr. Yakubov and to stop persecuting journalists and other people who disagree with the Karimov regime policies.

Uzbek people deserve as much freedom and dignity as the Iraqis whom you helped. However we are not asking to launch air strikes against Uzbekistan or to invade Uzbekistan, but you surely have enough powers and reputation in the international community to pursue what is universally right and to prove that America has no double standards.