Uzbek dissident freed from custody thanks Czech president for support


Czech TV
December 12

Czech President Vaclav Havel held a meeting with Uzbek dissident Mohammed Solih on Wednesday. Solih, a representative of Uzbekistan's opposition, was taken into custody by the Czech police at the end of November. He was detained on the basis of an international arrest warrant.

Until Tuesday, Mohammed Solih had been held at Prague's Pankrac prison.

The Czech president is known to have described Mohammed Solih as a defender of human rights who was being persecuted by Uzbek President Islam Karimov's regime:

Havel's spokesman Ladislav Spacek: "President Havel hopes that Mr Solih does not feel any bitterness and anger towards the Czech Republic as a result of the procedure he was subjected to in line with Czech law."

Mohammed Solih thanked Vaclav Havel for his support and remarked, in a light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek manner, on the easiest way of securing a meeting with the president. He said that in order to achieve this aim, it was important to travel to a prison upon arrival in the Czech Republic where one ought to think about death, life and freedom for 25 days:

Mohammed Solih: "And then when you finally leave the prison, as guaranteed by the president, and meet him, all you can think about is freedom."

Mohammed Solih is now awaiting a verdict to be delivered by Prague's Municipal Court which is expected to decide whether it will accede to the Uzbek authorities' request for Solih's extradition or whether it will enable Solih to travel to Norway, a country which has granted Solih political asylum. Despite his current difficulties, the dissident is not planning to apply for Norwegian citizenship; he continues to hope that he will be able to return home.

Prague's Municipal Court is expected to decide on Friday [14 December] whether Solih will be extradited to Uzbekistan.