Russian suspect's statements in Swedish court reveal mastermind behind assassinations of Uzbek dissidents
Yuri Jukovski, a Russian tried in Sweden on charges of attempting to murder Uzbek dissident Abid Nazar, told the court who masterminded the killings of Uzbek dissidents abroad.
When he recently appeared before the court, Jukovski said that all assassination attempts targeting members of People's Movement of Uzbekistan were orchestrated by Umid Amirov, whose code name is Tigran Kaplanov.
The suspected hitman was detained in Sweden for being involved in the gun attack against Abid Nazar Kari, known to be an opponent of the Uzbek regime. The prosecutor's office demanded life sentence against him for attacking Abid Nazar. Jukovski has been jailed in Sweden for two years while Kari, hit on the head outside his home, has been fighting to survive in a coma.
Jukovski also admitted that Abdullah Buhari was gunned down by Kaplanov's order. Buhari was shot and killed on December 14 in Istanbul in 2014. Buhari, whose real name is Mirzagalip Hamidov, had been threatened by Russian and Uzbek spy services. He is known as a fierce critic of Uzbek President Islam Kerimov. The Uzbek and Russian spy services were said to have been linked to his death.
After his death in Istanbul's Zeytinburnu district, police revealed a list of names of Uzbeks under threat of death for their opposition to Kerimov's regime. The list featued the names of Reshad Kari, currently imprisoned in Kyrgyzstan, as well as the leader of the People's Movement of Uzbekistan, Muhammed Saleh, and his son Timur. The Uzbek leader Muhammed Saleh has previously survived two assassination attempts, allegedly by the Uzbek secret service.
The People's Movement of Uzbekistan is an umbrella group bringing together a number of diaspora opposition movements. Opponents from Canada, France, the United States and Australia gathered in Berlin on May 23, 2011 for the movement's first meeting. In the gathering, they decided to launch acts of civil disobedience in their country to bring about the fall of the current regime. Mohammed Saleh, the leader of Erk block in the group, was elected chair of the dissident movement.
One of his statements heard at the court has helped Turkish police foil further assassination attempts targeting Uzbek leaders exiled in Turkey. Jukovski said that a 15-member team is planning to travel to Turkey to carry out a series of assassinations by the order of Kaplanov. When informed of this confession, Turkish authorities dramatically increased protection measures for Uzbek dissidents believed to be on the death list of the Uzbek spy service. Security officials said the protection, assigned to Uzbek leaders in Turkey, is an essential deterrent to any assassination bid.
A Kyrgyz scholar of Uzbek origin, Reshad Kari, narrowly escaped two attempts on his life in six months. Kari was detained and imprisoned on Feb. 11, 2015 after the assassination tries failed. The Kyrgyz court sentenced him to 10 years in prison for supporting Hizb-ut Tahrir members. The intelligence service is feared to have planned another attempt, this time to kill him in his cell. His father Rafiq Kari, who worked as a cleric, was gunned down by Kyrgz secret service.
