What Gulirano Kosimova’s Case Reveals About Accountability in Uzbekistan |
In April 2025, Gulirano Kosimova, a school principal from Uzbekistan’s Fergana region, became the victim of one of the country’s most disturbing recent police abuse cases. During a staged law-enforcement operation, she was beaten, forcibly stripped naked, and filmed by multiple police officers. The operation was later shown to have been orchestrated to fabricate rape charges against a former tax official after he refused an unlawful demand by police.
Public outrage followed once Kosimova’s testimony was published by local media. In November 2025, a district court convicted two senior police officials and sentenced them to four years in a so-called “settlement colony,” a relatively lenient form of detention. Yet the court also acknowledged that at least nine other officers directly participated in the abuse. None of them were suspended or charged.
For many observers, the verdict symbolized partial accountability. For Kosimova, it marked the beginning of a new phase of fear.
Threats After Justice
In a recent video appeal shared on social media, Kosimova explained that she had deliberately withdrawn from public discussion........