Olim Karimov, 67-year-old professor of agricultural sciences who is a member of the presidium of the opposition Birlik movement and deputy chairman of the unregistered Free Peasants’ Party, is reported to have suffered a stroke in detention in the Ministry of the Interior’s investigation-isolation prison in Tashkent. He is reported not to have access to specialist care in the prison hospital where he is now held. Olim Karimov was arrested on 19 January 1993, charged with “organizational activity directed towards commission of especially dangerous crimes against the state”. AI is seeking further information about the basis for the charge. Members of opposition parties in Uzbekistan have been subjected to official harassment and imprisonment.
