“People come to court as a last resort. If a person does not find justice in court, trust in the state also weakens,” Head of the Presidential Administration – Saida Mirziyoyeva.
Officials of the Samarkand Regional Prosecutor's Office and the judicial system are setting aside the rule of law and prioritizing their personal interests by taking illegal actions against an attorney. Alisher Mamatov, an attorney at the "JUSTICE" law firm, informed Effect.uz about this.
According to the attorney, he exposed systematic falsifications within the judicial investigative bodies of the Samarkand region and the crimes committed by Judge O. Allayev.
Specifically, as a result of the attorney's legal objections, it became clear that court protocols had been falsified by first-instance court judge O. Allayev.
This was officially confirmed by the conclusion of the service inspection conducted by the Qualification Board of Judges of the Samarkand Regional Courts. As a result, the entire panel of the appeal instance of the Samarkand Regional Court was removed from office. The court case involving attorney Mamatov was transferred not to the Samarkand Regional Court, but to the Jizzakh Regional Court.
Following this, Samarkand Regional Prosecutor Murodqosim Eshnazarov declared "war" on attorney Mamatov. Abusing his official position, the regional prosecutor "dug up" old civil cases of the legal defender dating back to 2020. True to the saying that he who looks for a stain will find one, the regional prosecutor fabricated a new criminal case against lawyer Mamatov based on groundless arguments under Article 168, Part 4, Paragraphs (Fraud on an especially large scale) and Article 28, (Accomplice to a crime), Article 211, Part 3 (Bribery on an especially large scale) of the Criminal Code.
These actions constitute a violation of attorney immunity. According to Article 6 of the Law "On the Bar" and other legislative acts, holding an attorney liable or persecuting them for providing legal assistance is strictly prohibited.
The legal defender added that the Samarkand regional investigative body, ignoring the attorney's exonerating evidence and the conclusions of the service inspection, proceeded to fulfill solely the prosecutor's "instructions." This constitutes a gross violation of the requirements of Article 22 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Establishing the truth).
The most intriguing aspect of the situation is that the accusations regarding lawyer Mamatov's civil cases from 6 years ago—in 2020—were initiated only after he exposed the criminal actions of the regional judges and the prosecutor's office with evidence. This raises a number of suspicious questions regarding officials in the Samarkand region.
Caught under the pressure of the prosecutor's office, which has turned into a tool of systematic persecution, falsification, and personal animosity, attorney Alisher Mamatov appealed directly to President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the Presidential Administration.
In his appeal, the attorney asks the head of state to immediately halt and annul the illegal criminal case initiated against him by the Samarkand regional prosecutor concerning the 2020 civil case; to transfer the case from the Samarkand region to investigators for particularly important cases of the Prosecutor General's Office to ensure an impartial investigation; and to order a service inspection under the supervision of the Presidential Administration regarding the prosecutor's abuse of office to orchestrate systematic persecution against the attorney.
As long as local officials twist the law to serve their own ends, the reforms carried out by the head of state will continue to face a lack of public trust. Effect.uz will continue to monitor the developments and this scandalous situation surrounding the Samarkand Regional Prosecutor's Office.
