Uzbekistan: Alisher Tursunov, known by the pseudonym Mubashshir Ahmad, the founder of the Azon.uz portal, has been put on the wanted list in Uzbekistan. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan initially stated that he was suspected of forming and being a member of an illegal religious organization, an extremist group. Later, the ministry admitted that it had made a technical error and announced that a criminal case had been opened against Tursunov for illegally preparing, storing, importing or distributing materials of religious content.

Last week, the State Security Service in Tashkent arrested 17 citizens on suspicion of membership in illegal religious organizations . The group, which included employees of the Customs Committee, the director of a training center, and students, allegedly used various religious literature at illegal gatherings.

It is not yet known whether these mass arrests in Tashkent and Tursunov's wanted list are related.

Mubashsir Ahmad, a former employee of the Muslim Office of Uzbekistan and author of a number of religious books, is considered one of the publicly known disciples of the late Sheikh Muhammad Sadiq Muhammad Yusuf.

After leaving the Muslim Brotherhood, he founded the portal "Azon.uz". This portal, which was created for the purpose of religious enlightenment and dissemination of information, came under pressure after its popularity, its publication was suspended, and Mubashshir Ahmad fled to Turkey.

He was also detained for a period in Turkey, held in a deportation center, and later released.

Some reports say that these actions were carried out at the request of Uzbekistan, but this has been denied by the embassy in Turkey.

Mubashshir Ahmed started the Azon.global portal in Turkey. The publication, which is still open, has not reported or responded to the search warrant issued against him.

This news has sparked serious debate in Uzbekistan. On social media, one can read concerns that the religious situation in the country is returning to the situation under Karimov.

This comes at a time when the number of deaths in Uzbekistan's prisons has increased, and international human rights organizations are warning that the situation in the country has worsened.

Following the recent deaths of at least two prisoners in prison, Human Rights Watch has called on the Uzbek government to investigate these deaths.

According to the Prosecutor General's Office, these processes have already begun.

In its annual report, Human Rights Watch analyzed the surge in arrests of civil society activists and bloggers across Central Asia, including in Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan has made a number of changes in the area of ​​religious freedom in recent years, receiving a positive assessment from the US State Department.

The abolition of the "blacklist" of religious believers in the country, the release of imprisoned believers, and the somewhat easing of systematic religious persecution were cited as reasons for this.

This month, Freedom House released a study on the reasons why countries around the world resort to repression and the justifications that authoritarian regimes give for this process.

It notes that in almost all countries where repression has intensified, repression is promoted as a fight against religious extremism.

The oppression of Uyghurs in China, the discrimination of Muslims in Russia, and the pressure on believers and activists in Central Asian countries are also largely explained as preventing the threat of fanaticism. VOA/SP