A citizen journalist known for his criticism of the authorities in Uzbekistan has been arrested on charges of blackmail and extortion. Abdukadyr Muminov’s supporters say he may have been singled out for this treatment over his investigations into the country’s ruling family.

Police in Tashkent said on February 8 that Abdukadyr Muminov is suspected of numerous instances of approaching business owners with offers to refrain from publishing damaging video reports in return for payment. These alleged crimes are said by investigators to have taken place in 2021.

The Interior Ministry announcement on Muminov’s detention cleared up the mystery around his whereabouts. Reports had earlier circulated on social media claiming the citizen reporter – or blogger, the term typically used for that journalistic genre in Uzbekistan – had gone missing. 

The last few weeks has seen a sustained onslaught against media workers on similar grounds. On January 27, police raided the offices of Human.uz, an outfit that specializes in video reports covering domestic and foreign affairs. Seven employees, including Human.uz's director Khurshid Daliyev and editor-in-chief Muslim Mirzazhanov, were taken into custody.

Colleagues subsequently lost touch with the arrested Human.uz personnel in a development that reflects how keeping detainees in jail incognito remains a routine practice in Uzbekistan, despite much-touted reforms of the criminal justice system. 

Muminov has been in trouble before. He has claimed that he was assaulted on December 23 in what he has described as “an attempt on his life.” Police said they would investigate the matter, but no details about what findings they have made are forthcoming.

A fellow blogger and close friend, Asliddin Kamol, believes this week’s arrest of Muminov may have been triggered by his investigations into the business affairs of one of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s sons-in-law. 

"In December, people came after him and beat him up. But he did not stop pursuing his work. Two days before his disappearance, the same people threatened him again,” Kamol wrote on his Telegram account.