Independent Uzbek journalist Ulugbek Haidarov's imprisonment is over.

Haidarov was sentenced to six years behind the bars for extortion in early October. Two months later, On November 7, the Court of Appeals reconsidered the case and ordered his release.

The journalist's two months behind the bars included short spells in Jizak, Havas, Tashkent, and finally Navoi. Haidarov describes them as "two months of a never ending nightmare". He cannot forget prison walls and the necessity to get up at 4 a.m. (like other inmates, Haidarov swept territory of garbage and litter every day 5 a.m. to 10 a.m.). Experiencing health problems, the journalist intends to recover with his family first. He does not plan to resume his journalistic or human rights activities.

The Kashkadarja Court of Appeals in the meantime validated the verdict to human rights activist Yagdar Turlibekov, 69, sentenced to 3.5 years imprisonment.

The head of the Kashkadarja regional organization of the Uzbek Society for Human Rights, Turlibekov drew imprisonment for extortion. The trial in Karsha ended on October 6 but the human rights activist had been in custody since June 16. (The team assigned to making the arrest comprised almost 30 officers of law enforcement agencies brandishing automatic weapons.)

Turlibekov awaited the trial in a detention cell in Bukhara. There is no information on his whereabouts at this point. Telephone in his apartment is dead, his family strictly incommunicado.

Neither Turlibekov's family nor the lawyer were informed of the meeting of the Court of Appeals.

Ferghana.Ru news agency