On May 10, the Criminal Trial Panel of the Court of the Republic of Karakalpakstan completed the open trial of the criminal case against the defendants Amanbay Sagidullaev (born in 1967) and Niyetbay Urazbayev (born in 1969), the information service of the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan reports.

It is noted that the criminal case was heard in the court of first instance under the chairmanship of Sultanmurat Davletmuratov, judge of the criminal trial panel of the court of the Republic of Karakalpakstan.

“Based on Article 410 of the Criminal Procedural Code (participation of the defendant in the trial), the trial of this criminal case was held without the participation of A. Sagidullayev and N. Urazbayev due to the fact that the defendants were outside the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan and it was not possible to bring them to court,” the Supreme Court press secretary Aziz Obidov office said. 

According to the court:

Amanbay Sagidullayev has been imprisoned for 18 years, the first 2 years of the sentence are to be spent in prison, and the rest – in a colony of general order;
Niyetbay Urazbaev has been imprisoned for 12 years, and the sentence is to be served in a colony of general order.

In addition, according to the court’s verdict, it was established that social pages and channels belonging to Amanbay Sagidullaev on the Internet would be blocked.

“Parties dissatisfied with this verdict are informed that through the court of the Republic of Karakalpakstan have the right to appeal to the appellate body of the Supreme Court on criminal proceedings within the procedures and deadlines specified in the procedural legislation, and the prosecutor has the right to protest,” the official report reads.

Earlier, the Supreme Court reported that 55-year-old Amanbay Sagidullayev, who lives in Norway, and 53-year-old Niyetbay Urazbayev, who lives in Kazakhstan, are charged with a criminal case related to the Nukus events, and that the trial against them will be open.

“From every nation, chauvinists and ultra-nationalists can emerge. There are also those who follow such a person. This kind of chauvinism is also at the root of the riots in Karakalpakstan. Legal measures should be taken against the irreconcilable separatists,” Abdurakhmon Tashanov, head of “Ezgulik” society, wrote about Amanbay Sagidullayev.

It became known that in October 2022, the chairman of the Karakalpak ethnic-cultural association established in the Mangistau region of Kazakhstan, a member of the People’s Assembly of the neighboring country, Niyetbay Urazbayev, was issued an interstate arrest warrant for encroaching on the constitutional system of Uzbekistan.

In an official letter sent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan to Kazakhstan, Urazbayev, a citizen of this country, was requested to be arrested and extradited to Uzbekistan. In response to this request, Niyetbay Urazbayev was included in the list of wanted persons of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan.

For information, the separatist movement “Alga Karakalpakstan” (“Move Forward Karakalpakstan”) has been advocating the separation of Karakalpakstan from Uzbekistan.