Uzbek human rights defender and opposition activist Nuriddin Jumaniyazov died in prison last year, a human rights activist says.
The chairwoman of the Paris-based Fiery Hearts Club Human Rights Association, Mutobar Tojiboeva, told RFE/RL on June 16 that Jumaniyazov died at the age of 69 on December 31, 2016. According to official documents, the cause of death was tuberculosis and diabetes, Tojiboeva said.
Tojiboeva said Jumaniyazov was not married and his body was given to relatives in a remote part of the Karakalpakistan region, so the outside world did not find out about his death.
"Our organization is currently looking into the circumstances of his death," Tojiboeva said.
Jumaniyazov and a colleague, Fahriddin Tillyaev, were sentenced to eight years and three months in prison each after a Tashkent court convicted them of human trafficking in March 2014.
Human rights organization condemned the trial and the verdict, saying the case was politically motivated as both Jumaniyazov and Tillyaev were members of the opposition Erk (Freedom) party.
