Rights group and opposition condemn jailing of leader

Uzbekistan has again came under international criticism over the arrest of an opposition leader who was found naked and delirious in a prison cell by his lawyer, following the release of another prominent rights activist and opposition member from a psychiatric hospital. Sanjar Umarov, leader of the Sunshine Uzbekistan Coalition, was arrested on 22 October, on what his supporters say are spurious charges. Three days later he was found naked and incoherent in his cell by his attorney, Vitaly Krasiliovsky, according to rights groups and opposition members. New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Sunshine Uzbekistan Coalition urged Uzbek authorities to ensure immediate medical attention for Umarov, including an independent psychiatric examination. "Sanjar Umarov needs to receive immediate medical care," said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at HRW. "We are deeply concerned for his safety and well-being." The coalition's coordinator, Nodira Khidayatova, told reporters in Moscow that psychotropic drugs might have been used to silence Umarov. She added that Russia's unequivocal backing of Uzbekistan offered Karimov's government a free hand in his bid to suppress the already fragmented opposition movement. "I wouldn't say that Uzbekistan's fate is in Russia's hands ... but Russia has a lot of influence on Uzbekistan." Washington issued a sharp rebuke to the Uzbek government on Wednesday over Umarov’s arrest and demanded to know more about the dissident's case and his medical condition. US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said he had seen reports about the arrest of Umarov and his alleged mistreatment by the Uzbek authorities. "The very fact of these reports is deeply troubling," said McCormack. Uzbek authorities deny any political motivation for Umarov's arrest and say he was charged with embezzlement and tax evasion. Umarov, 49, a businessman with links to the energy, cotton and telecommunications sectors, formed the Sunshine coalition in April this year in the wake of the revolution in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan that toppled ex-president Askar Akayev a month earlier. His coalition became more popular following the quelling of an uprising in the eastern city of Andijan on 13 May, when it denounced the massacre and called for dialogue with President Islam Karimov. Umarov went on to call for the dismissal of the government for the opposition to be given the chance to start economic reforms. The incident came just within days of the release of another rights activist and opposition member, Elena Urlaeva, from a psychiatric hospital where she had been held against her will and forcibly treated. Urlayeva, a human rights activist and member of the Ozod Dehkonlar (Free Peasants) party was released from psychiatric hospital on 27 October. "I was given daily a dose of Rispolept [a strong drug used to treat schizophrenia] that had very bad side effects and for the last two days doctors had to stop forcible treatment," Urlaeva said after her release. Common side effects of Rispolept include nausea, anxiety, dizziness, insomnia and blurred vision. The medication can have several serious side effects which may be permanent, including an involuntary and often continuous movement of the tongue and lips, accompanied by grimacing. She was arrested in August for publishing a caricature of the national Uzbek emblem and for carrying opposition party leaflets that criticised Karimov. Urlayeva's sentencing in August was the third time since April 2001 that she had been locked up and forced to undergo psychiatric treatment.