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UPI
January 17
apt. Haydar Safarkulov was bludgeoned to death with a metal bar on the night of Nov. 28, 1996.
Nearly four years later, Nuriddin Rakhimov was convicted of the crime and sentenced to 20 years in prison by
Uzbekistan's military court. That conviction could have closed the case, but it didn't. Now Mamajon Rakhimov,
the father of Nuriddin, is waiting for a decision from Uzbekistan's Supreme Court. According to Mamajon, his
son is not guilty and a real murderer is at large. Mamajon told United Press International in the course of exclusive
interview on Wednesday that the Safarkulov's death had possibly been connected with seizing of 11,463 pounds
of opium poppy some months before the killing. Nuriddin was a common soldier at a military unit in the Uzbek
city of Termez on the Uzbek-Afghan border.
According to Mamajon, one day in summer or autumn of 1996,
Nuriddin helped unload transit wagons crossing Termez from Kabul to Prague. Nuriddin said Safarkulov and
soldiers, including Nuriddin, had seized 11,440 pounds of opium poppy in the course of inspecting the wagons
at the railroad station. Then Safarkulov submitted a report on the seizing. Mamajon learned about the details from
his son. On Nov. 28, 1996, Nuriddin was the only witness to Safarkulov's murder. According to Nuriddin, a
discharged officer of the unit was a killer. Nuriddin saw the murder, but kept quiet. According to Nuriddin,
the murderer threatened to kill him and his relatives if he told what he had seen. Safarkulov was brutally killed
while he slept. The murderer struck the captain several times with a metal angle bar. After the killing, the murderer
took a pistol and cartridges from the safe. Nuriddin said he saw the murderer a few months after the killing. The
case had been investigated for some years.
The National Security Service, the Military Public Prosecutor Office
and the Military Court investigated it. Both Nuriddin Rakhimov and Senior Lt. Rinat Bikkulov had been arrested.
According to Rakhimov, Bikkulov murdered Safarkulov. An unauthorized gun and $3,660 was found on Bikkulov
before the crime. This gun was not connected with the Safarkulov's killing. In the course of the court, Bikkulov
said prosecutors had demanded dollars from him to declare the gun broken and unable to fire. He said he did
not hand over the money. The prosecutors promised to accuse him of the Safarkulov's death. Bikkulov said he
was tortured after arrest, but he had an alibi. According to Mamajon Rakhimov, the instrument of the murder
(the metal angle bar) has not been found. Mamajon said Bikkulov had been released. Mamajon said a judge
asked him to influence his son urge him to refute later evidence and to say he had seen nothing.
The father
started to make complaints against the judge. Mamajon said all his demands to attach the fact of seizing the
large batch of drugs to this case were ignored by the court. He does not believe in justice, courts and laws
in Uzbekistan, and he has complained to Uzbek and international organizations. He found records of other batches
of drugs seized at the railroad station in Termez. According to him, Bikkulov gave some evidence in the course
of interrogation. He said 10,604 pounds of hashish were seized in coffee tins in the transit wagon from Afghanistan
to Slovakia in 1996. In the same year, 5.2 tons of acetic anhydride crossing Termez from China to the Afghan
city of Hayraton were seized. According to Mamajon some officers of a Termez military garrison have been
convicted of drug smuggling. Mamajon said he quoted a judge.
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U.S. supports seminar promoting drug free schools
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UzLand.Uz
January 17
n Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan John Herbst and deputy minister of health Bahtiyor Niyazmatov
took part in the opening of the "Drug Free Schools" seminar. The sponsor of this event is the United States Agency for International Development
through the Global Training for Development project. The organizers include active non-governmental
organizations from Uzbekistan such as the International Charity Fund "Soglom Avlod Uchun," the Medical
Center "Oila," and the Public Fund "Qalb Sadosi."
Over the last three years there has been a steady increase in the number of cases of drug addiction in Uzbekistan,
though the number is still much lower than the average worldwide. Heroin has become the drug of choice, usually
taken intravenously. In an attempt to address the issue before it becomes a problem, Uzbekistan's educators and
medical specialists have combined their efforts to develop a drug prevention campaign.
Tashkent teachers and physicians will receive practical knowledge and skills on strengthening teenagers' skills and
abilities to say "no" to drugs. The training will also provide tips on individual and social safety in the fight against
the consumption and trafficking of drugs. The trainees will be introduced to HIV/AIDS, its spread through
intravenous drug use, as well as educational methods to prevent the spread of this disease.
Ongoing monitoring and training at the pilot schools will be provided by International Charity Fund "Soglom
Avlod Uchun," the Medical Center "Oila," and Public Fund "QALB SADOSI."
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Japan grants 200,000 dollars to finance Uzbek hospital, schools
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Uzbek TV
January 17
ceremony of signing contracts on Japanese government grants for a few
small projects in Uzbekistan was held in Tashkent on Wednesday.
The grants worth a total of about 200,000 dollars fill be go to the central
hospital in Bekabad [100 km south of Tashkent] and some schools in
Andizhan, Namangan and Tashkent Regions, including about 20,000 dollars to
a school in Uychi District [in eastern Namangan Region].
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