Irina Matvienko, a noted defender of women's rights in Uzbekistan, says she has fled the country after unknown individuals threatened online to kill her.
Matvienko, creator of the NeMolchi.uz ("Don't Be Silent" in Russian) website along with a Telegram channel that bears the same name, told RFE/RL on May 3 that she was currently in Georgia and will return to Uzbekistan only after those who threatened to kill her are located and she feels safe to come back.
"I filed a complaint with Tashkent law enforcement on April 28. I am currently in contact with the investigator. We will see what the results will be," Matviyenko said, adding that she suffered psychological problems after receiving the death threats.
Matvienko also said that despite her departure, NeMolchi.uz will continue to operate.
The Uzbek Interior Ministry official told RFE/RL that experts from the ministry's center for cybersecurity were investigating the case.
"A corresponding legal assessment of the situation will be made later," the official said.
Matvienko's NeMolchi.uz independent information project was created in 2017 with the goal of raising awareness about domestic violence and violence against women in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic in general.
Last month, NeMolchi.uz made headlines by reporting about several teenage girls being regularly raped by local officials for at least 10 months in a foster family in the western city of Urganch.
After the report by NeMolchi.uz, authorities in Urganch ruled in favor of the retrial of two officials who were earlier acquitted in a rape case.
Matvienko said she did not know if the death threats against her were linked to her project's reports about the situation in Urganch.
Feminist and human rights organizations have criticized the Uzbek authorities for years over the drastic situation of women's rights and domestic violence in Central Asia's most populous country of 35 million people.