The trial against Valijon Rakhmanov, a lieutenant colonel in the Military Counterintelligence Department of the Uzbek State Security Service, who was detained on 26 February 2024 in Tashkent by officers of the Uzbek State Security Service’s Internal Security Department on suspicion of spying for the US government, continues in Uzbekistan.

On 9 January 2025, a closed-door panel of the Military Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan sentenced Valijon Rakhmanov to 16 years in a general regime colony on the treason case.

However, to date, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan has not bothered to summon Mr Jonathan Henick, the US Ambassador to Uzbekistan, in order to hand him a note of protest.

The political opposition movement ‘Erkin O’zbekiston’ demands that Mr Bakhtiyor Saidov, Head of the Foreign Ministry, urgently summon Mr Jonathan Henick and hand him a note of protest or ensure the presence of observers from among local human rights activists and representatives of the diplomatic corps in Uzbekistan at the upcoming hearing of the court of appeal in the Valijon Rakhmanov case.

Not only the ‘Erkin O’zbekiston’ movement, but also the relevant structures of the United States Department of State are closely following the developments around the Valijon Rakhmanov case.