Police officers in Boz district of Andijan province during night patrol detained young people who were walking in the streets after 22:00. As reported by one of the victims, a group of young people were heading home after playing football, when they were stopped by police patrol bus, who dragged all of them to the police department for identification. There, according to the victim, they were interrogated on why they were walking on the street late, Repost.uz reported.
On the footage sent by one of the young men, one can see how one policeman abuses his official powers and beats a young man who asked the officer not to swear. In addition, during the roll call, the police officers forced to come out those who had beards. On the footage, the police officer can be heard harassing the young people, accusing them of violating the public order.
Police abuse is very common in Uzbekistan, one of the most notorious case happened in Samarkand province, where a policeman strip naked a woman, suspected of theft.
There were cases in the past when patrol units were stopping and dragging ordinary passers-by to police departments even when the latter had IDs. People should not be detained simply because they are walking in the street in the night time. A person has the right to go anywhere at anytime, and is not obliged to have excuses to anyone, be it the patrol or volunteer units. We hope that the cases are not the sign of return to the old practices and of the unofficial night curfew.
