Statute · Uzbekistan
Article 244 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan
mass riots
The Detained has documented 34 cases in Uzbekistan in which this article was charged. 34 ended in a prison sentence, with a median of 6 years and the longest at 18.4 years. Torture or ill-treatment was reported in 2 of them.
Article 244 of the Uzbek Criminal Code punishes mass riots "accompanied by violence, pogroms, arson, destruction of property or armed resistance", with the heaviest terms for organizers. It is charged together with Article 244-1 (production and dissemination of materials threatening public security) and, for alleged leaders, with Article 159 (attempts on the constitutional order).
The documented caseload comes from one event: the protests in Nukus, Karakalpakstan, on 1 and 2 July 2022 against constitutional amendments that would have removed the republic's right to secede. Security forces used force to disperse crowds; at least twenty-one people died. The state then prosecuted the protesters rather than the response, and the trials in Bukhara in early 2023 produced sentences of up to sixteen years for the lawyer and journalist identified as the movement's leader and multi-year terms for dozens of participants. Every arrest in the series below falls in 2022.
Arrests by year
| 2022 | 33 |
|---|---|
| n/a | 1 · arrest date not published |
Charged together with
- Art. 244-1 (10)
- Art. 159 (4)
- Art. 247 (3)
- Art. 158 (2)
- Art. 104 (2)
- Art. 167 (1)
- Art. 243 (1)
- Art. 277 (1)
All documented cases · 34
| Name | Arrested | Sentence | Place of arrest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dauletmurat Djiyemuratov Director of “Korauzak Sohib“ LLC | 6 Aug 2022 | 6 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Aydos Yesemuratov | 5 Aug 2022 | 5 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Amirbek Adilbekov Head of the republican branch of the insurance company “SQB INSURANCE” | 28 Jul 2022 | 5 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Alpamys Zhumabekov Employee of the “No’kis vinozavodi” company | 26 Jul 2022 | 5 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Nursultan Baylepesov | 26 Jul 2022 | 5 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Manas Rakhmanov Sales agent at the Nukus branch of the “Zarkand” confectionery | 22 Jul 2022 | 7 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Nusret Bauetdinov | 21 Jul 2022 | 6 years | Kanlykol District, Karakalpakstan |
| Adilbek Sariev | 21 Jul 2022 | 6 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Kamal Eshzhanov | 20 Jul 2022 | 5 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Omirbek Kurbanov Civil activist | 19 Jul 2022 | 11 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Kuanyshbay Begaliev Driver for the “Trans yil kyrilish” company | 19 Jul 2022 | 7 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Saidabulla Medetov Head of the “Keleshek Uchun” farm | 15 Jul 2022 | 4 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Sharapat Ashirbekov Administrator of the “Tajimuratov Dauletmurat” YouTube channel | 15 Jul 2022 | 8 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Oralbay Dosnazarov Attorney at the “Nyzam ustinligi” law bar | 15 Jul 2022 | 11 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Nurlan Nayipov Pensioner (former traffic police) | 15 Jul 2022 | 4 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Ruslan Baimbetov Driver | 14 Jul 2022 | 6 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Sultanbek Kaipov Unemployed | 14 Jul 2022 | 5 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Dauletkeldi Nadirbayev Lawyer at the district branch of Khalyk Bank | 14 Jul 2022 | 5 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Kongratbay Bekpolatov Driver for the “Berdi-Trans” company | 13 Jul 2022 | 6 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Razbek Bekmuratov Teacher at Karakalpak State University | 13 Jul 2022 | 6 years | Nukus, Karakalpakstan |
| Azamat Allanazarov Municipal bus driver | 12 Jul 2022 | 6 years | Nukus, Karakalpakstan |
| Nursultan Duysenbayev | 12 Jul 2022 | 5 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Zamirbek Tadjimuratov | 12 Jul 2022 | 7 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Allabai Tokimbetov Mullah | 12 Jul 2022 | 6 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Dauranbek Ramanov Assistant to Karakalpak activist and lawyer | 10 Jul 2022 | 9 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Nuratdiyin Khabipov Former employee of the Nukus City security department of the National Guard Directorate for the Republic of Karakalpakstan | 10 Jul 2022 | 8 years | Nukus, Karakalpakstan |
| Rustam Dosymbetov | 7 Jul 2022 | 6 years | Bukhara |
| Zairbek Pirzhanov Driver | 7 Jul 2022 | 6 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Polat Shamshetov Former chief of Karakalpakstan Interior Ministry’s Criminal Investigation Department | 5 Jul 2022 | 6 years | Nukus, Karakalpakstan |
| Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov lawyer, journalist, and human rights defender | 4 Jul 2022 | 18 years 5 months | Nukus, Karakalpakstan |
| Bakhtiyar Kadirbergenov Blogger, founder of Ayama.uz | 1 Jul 2022 | 7 years | Nukus, Karakalpakstan |
| Lolagul Kallykhanova Journalist; founder of Makan.uz news site | 1 Jul 2022 | 8 years | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Zhumasapar Dadebayev Civic activist and blogger | 10 Jan 2022 | 12 years | Istanbul, Turkey |
| Otkirbek Sobirov | date unknown | 2 years | Fergana, Uzbekistan |
Questions
- What happened in Nukus in July 2022?
- Protests against constitutional amendments affecting Karakalpakstan's autonomy were dispersed by force; at least twenty-one people died. The amendments were withdrawn, and the protesters were then prosecuted for mass riots.
- Who was sentenced?
- Dozens of participants, with the longest term, sixteen years, given to Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov, the lawyer the state identified as the organizer. The documented cases below are the individuals whose names sources have published.
Browse all cases in Uzbekistan
How we define a political prisoner
Counts are of published records in The Detained’s database for Uzbekistan that carry this article, matched after normalizing how sources write it, as of 10 Sept 2026. They are a documented minimum: cases not yet published or not yet linked to the article are not counted. Each row links to the case record and its sources.