Uzbekistan Bars Exiled Opposition Leader's Wife, Son

By RFE/RL's Uzbek ServiceSeptember 22, 2014

Uzbek authorities have barred the wife and a son of exiled opposition leader Bahodir Choriev from entering the country.

The Tashkent-based Human Rights Defenders' Alliance said Feruza Hurramova and her 9-year-old son were halted at the Tashkent airport upon arrival from the U.S. city of Chicago via Istanbul, Turkey, on September 20.

They were sent back to Istanbul on September 21 despite being Uzbek passport holders, the alliance said in a statement.

Choriev fled Uzbekistan in 2004 and has been living in the United States for several years. He established the opposition Birdamlik (Unity) group while in the United States, along with members still residing in Uzbekistan.

Choriev's father, human rights activist Hasan Choriev, died of a heart attack in March, two months after his release from prison.