TASHKENT --- A Russian citizen jailed for 16 years in Uzbekistan on treason charges as been released, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reports.
Dmitry Korepanov, who lives in Tashkent, told RFE/RL on July 11 that his father, Yury Korepanov, 64, was released from jail on June 29.
Tashkent-based Russian journalist Vladimir Berezovsky, who has followed Korepanov's case, told RFE/RL that Korepanov has not been given any official confirmation of his release, nor has his passport been returned or the charges against him been dropped.
Berezovsky said he thinks Uzbek President Islam Karimov and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev may have discussed Korepanov's case during Medvedev's June visit to Uzbekistan and that could have led to Korepanov's release.
Berezovsky said Korepanov is currently with his son in Tashkent waiting for his documents to arrive from Russia.
Until 2002 Korepanov, a former Soviet Amy colonel, lived in Uzbekistan and taught at the military department of Tashkent University. In 2002 he left for Yekaterinburg, where he received Russian citizenship without having formally relinquished his Uzbek citizenship.
In October 2010, Korepanov was arrested on the Uzbek border while coming to visit his son.
On January 11, 2011, a Tashkent military court found him guilty of treason and illegally crossing the state border. He was then given a 16-year jail sentence.
In February 2011, some media outlets reported that Korepanov was in poor health after suffering a heart attack in prison.
Read more in Uzbek here: http://www.ozodlik.org/content/article/24262390.html
Dmitry Korepanov, who lives in Tashkent, told RFE/RL on July 11 that his father, Yury Korepanov, 64, was released from jail on June 29.
Tashkent-based Russian journalist Vladimir Berezovsky, who has followed Korepanov's case, told RFE/RL that Korepanov has not been given any official confirmation of his release, nor has his passport been returned or the charges against him been dropped.
Berezovsky said he thinks Uzbek President Islam Karimov and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev may have discussed Korepanov's case during Medvedev's June visit to Uzbekistan and that could have led to Korepanov's release.
Berezovsky said Korepanov is currently with his son in Tashkent waiting for his documents to arrive from Russia.
Until 2002 Korepanov, a former Soviet Amy colonel, lived in Uzbekistan and taught at the military department of Tashkent University. In 2002 he left for Yekaterinburg, where he received Russian citizenship without having formally relinquished his Uzbek citizenship.
In October 2010, Korepanov was arrested on the Uzbek border while coming to visit his son.
On January 11, 2011, a Tashkent military court found him guilty of treason and illegally crossing the state border. He was then given a 16-year jail sentence.
In February 2011, some media outlets reported that Korepanov was in poor health after suffering a heart attack in prison.
Read more in Uzbek here: http://www.ozodlik.org/content/article/24262390.html
