| CA-NEWS (UZ) - The chairman of the Ezgulik human rights organisation's Pahtakor District branch in Jizak Region, Saidrasul Kushbekov, was detained on charges of extortion on 13 March, reported Uznews.net. The Pahtakor District prosecutor's office accused him of extorting $600 in bribe, and this is a usual charge brought against dissidents: journalist Ulugbek Haydarov, human rights activist Yadgar Turlibekov and many others were sentenced on extortion charges in 2006. Tashkent-based journalist and Ezgulik activist Dilmurod Saiyd was placed in custody in Samarkand Region for alleged extortion a few weeks ago. The head of Ezgulik, Vasilya Inoyatova, expressed her concern last week that Uzbek law-enforcement agencies had launched a campaign to persecute its members. On 24 March, they accused her organisation of defaming individuals in the human rights material distributed by the organisation. She explained the pressure by her organisation's publication of reports on high-profile bribery cases in Tashkent police and the country's Interior Ministry. Ezgulik has appealed to the public in Uzbekistan and other countries to offer moral support to society in Uzbekistan where the authorities seem to have started a new campaign against civil society and human rights activists.
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