On October 18, the Khorezm Province Criminal Court sentenced to probation the journalist and poet Mahmud Rajapov, who was on trek with his relatives to Tashkent to meet the Minister of Internal Affairs, the official representative of the Supreme Court Aziz Abidov said.
Mahmud Rajapov, 56, with no criminal conviction, was found guilty of Production, storage, distribution or demonstration of materials constituting threat to public safety and order and Smuggling.
The court sentenced him to 5 years and 6 months of probation, with a trial period of 2 years and 6 months.
Makhmud Rajapov and his relatives went on foot to meet with the Interior Minister and to demand stop the criminal case against the journalist and to complain about pressure from police.
Blogger Nafosat Ollashukurova (Facebook penname Shabnam Olloshkurova), who covered the trek live, was later sentenced to administrative arrest and was sent to a neuropsychiatric dispensary.
