On January 10, the Minister of Justice, Ruslanbek Davletov met with representatives of Erk (Liberty) opposition party led by the Secretary General, Otanazar Oripov, the spokeswoman to the Ministry of Justice, Sevara Urinboeva said.

Earlier, the meeting was also reported by Ozodlik Radio (Uzbek service of Radio Liberty). In the meeting were also present Agzam Turgunov, Salavot Umrzakov, Hamidulla Nurmatov and Sanjarali Imamov.

According to the Ministry, a group of people requested the ministry to resume the activities of the Erk party and to arrange a meeting with the Minister Ruslanbek Davletov. Davletov hosted them as per the schedule of reception of citizens, (on Fridays) on January 10.

As human rights activist Agzam Turgunov told Ozodlik, Ruslanbek Davletov “listened carefully to all our opinions, but told us to forget about the party.”

“He said: this party is a thing of the past, forget about it. The Erk’s Statute was registered by the Ministry of Justice on September 3, 1991. To this day there is no judicial decision or any other document on the closure or liquidation of the party. In this regard, we asked the Minister to allow us to continue the party’s activities. However, the minister objected, saying that the document adopted in 1991 had lost its force. But the most important thing is that a dialogue has begun between the opposition and the government. I support the restoration of this dialogue. The last time the Minister of Justice met with the leadership of the Erk party was in 1997,” he said.

According to the Ministry of Justice, Ruslanbek Davletov explained that “there is no party named Erk in Uzbekistan, and there are no legal basis for the resumption of its activities.”