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FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1951
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 000103 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
AMEMBASSY ASTANA PASS TO AMCONSUL ALMATY 
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG 
AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG 
AMEMBASSY ATHENS PASS TO AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI 
AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PASS TO AMEMBASSY PODGORICA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/26 
TAGS: PREL PHUM ELAB PGOV AID UZ
SUBJECT: Uzbekistan: HIV/AIDS Activist Sentenced to Seven Years in 
Prison 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Holly Lindquist Thomas, P/E Officer, Tashkent; REASON: 
1.4(B), (D) 
 
¶1.        (SBU) Summary:  It is emerging that a Tashkent Criminal 
Court last year sentenced Maksim Popov, a psychologist and HIV/AIDS 
activist, to seven years in prison on charges related to an 
HIV/AIDS prevention booklet that his NGO distributed, as well as 
financial improprieties related to grant funding he received.   The 
booklet in question included explicit language about proper condom 
usage and warned against the dangers of needle-sharing among drug 
users.  Initially held in a facility in the central Uzbekistan city 
of Navoi, he has reportedly been transferred to a general prison 
colony in Tashkent to serve out his sentence. End summary. 
 
 
 
¶2.       (SBU) Authorities arrested Popov in January 2009 and in 
September found him guilty of "involving minors in antisocial 
behavior" and "involving people in using drugs or psychotropic 
substances," (Art. 127 and 274 of the Uzbek Criminal Code).  The 
Court reportedly burned the ten copies of the book it had 
confiscated.  Popov was also found guilty of embezzlement (Art. 
167), concealment of foreign currency (Art. 178), and tax evasion 
(Art. 184).  The Court sentenced him in September 2009, but the 
sentence was not announced publicly until February 22. 
 
 
 
¶3.       (SBU) The court's decision in the case states that the 
Central Asia office of Population Services International (PSI) 
developed and published the booklet in Almaty, then supplied 200 
copies to Popov's NGO ("Izis") for distribution.  (Note:  According 
to USAID sources, PSI did not develop the booklet, rather it was 
photocopied from a Kyrgyz NGO that developed it independently.)  An 
Ozodlik (RFE/RL) report on Popov's sentencing includes long quotes 
from the booklet in question that detail very explicitly the proper 
way to put on and use a condom.  The booklet also reportedly warned 
against the dangers of needle-sharing among drug users.  The court 
stated that the booklet contradicted the "national traditions of 
the people" and amounted to pornography.  According to the verdict, 
Popov's NGO distributed the booklet to anti-AIDS centers in 
Tashkent and the Ferghana Valley cities of Margilan, Kuva, and 
Kokand.  Regarding the financial charges, the verdict states that 
Popov mishandled grant funding, failing to put the funding in a 
bank account (required by law) and using it for his own personal 
purposes. 
 
 
 
¶4.       (SBU) Popov, only 28 years old, has been an active force 
in the area of HIV/AIDS prevention, starting his NGO with young 
medical and mental health workers and received funding from several 
international donors, including USAID, for work on such things as 
counseling services, AIDS hotlines, and anti-drug education for 
youth.   (Note:  USAID has not funded his organization for about 
two years, and did not fund the pamphlet in question.)  A Facebook 
page has been set up in his support, and it makes no mention of the 
booklets in question.  It states that Popov was convicted of 
"improper use of needles" and fiscal impropriety.  The page blames 
the Uzbek government for the financial charges, noting that 
officials frequently harass NGOs with accusations of tax evasion 
and violating restrictions on access to foreign funds. 
 
 
 
Comment 
 
------------- 
 
 
 
¶5.       (C) Information on this case is only just now coming out. 
Little is known about the details beyond what is stated in the 
verdict, and indeed the court decision was under the radar of most 
Uzbekistan-watchers until the Open Society Institute got a hold of 
 
TASHKENT 00000103  002 OF 002 
 
 
it and alerted journalists.  Ozodlik's extensive quotations from 
the booklet suggest that the journalist has seen it directly, but 
Ozodlik reported the name of the booklet as "HIV & AIDS Today," 
whereas Open Society tells us that the book was titled "Healthy Way 
of Life:  Guidance for Teachers in the 21st Century."  PSI closed 
its Uzbekistan operations in 2008, and so far its Central Asia 
regional office, located in Almaty, has been unavailable for 
comment.  Officials at UNICEF, which has funded Popov's projects in 
the past, were not following the case, and UNODC knew nothing about 
it, although an unnamed staff person was quoted on an internet news 
site as saying that the brochure did not promote drugs, but on the 
contrary, helped addicts avoid mistakes while using needles. 
 
 
 
¶6.       (C) USAID staff speculate that a new committee under the 
Cabinet of Ministers responsible for screening publications on 
population and health issues may have been responsible for 
initiating the criminal investigation of the booklet.  (Rumor has 
it that the committee is even reviewing older, previously permitted 
publications.)  It is not unreasonable to believe that some 
official or committee found that the booklet in question was not in 
line with "Uzbek values," and should not be available to the 
public.  This notion of Uzbek values, alluded to in the verdict as 
"national traditions," seems increasingly the basis for charges 
challenging freedom of expression, such as in the case of 
photographer Umida Akhmedova.  As for the financial charges, it is 
difficult to know whether they are based in fact, but the Facebook 
page was correct in saying that this type of accusation is used 
frequently as a basis for harassment and intimidation of NGOs. 
Whatever the details, a seven year prison sentence is severe and 
seems to portend the start of a potentially ominous trend.  End 
comment. 
 
 
 
NORLAND 
NORLAND