The independent Uzbek journalist and human rights defender Dilmurod Sayid was sentenced in July 2009 to 12 and a half years in prison. He writes from prison to the Secretary General of the United Nations "I am not living but existing, awaiting my death”

Text of Letter from Dilmurod Sayid

Dear Secretary General of the UN and representatives of human rights organisations,

I am Dilmurod Egamberdievich Sayid. I am 48 years old. I have been imprisoned since February 22nd 2009. I have been sentenced to 12 years 6 months in prison, according to articles 165 (point 3) and 228 (points 2-3) of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

At present I am in the town of Navoi, in Special Institute No. 36 for the Treatment of Tuberculosis. On March 27th 2010, with a diagnosis of GDU-1A I was transferred to the afore-mentioned institute. “Treatment is being carried out on the programme “DOTS +”. My height is 176cm and my weight now is only 56kg.

The information about the unjust accusations and criminal sentence passed upon me has been presented on internet sites. I am completely convinced that I am the victim of an underhanded plot. Those responsible find it easy to step outside the boundaries of the law.

Unfortunately, during the proceedings, the representatives of legal organs circumvented the law, closed their eyes to justice, protected and continue to protect the interests of those individuals, which essentially are corruption, oppression, injustice and lawlessness.

In the path of the law, it was not only me who became a victim of the courts of justice, but also my family. I have lost the people dear to me, and my innocent 5-year-old daughter.

Where is the truth, the humanity, the compassion?

I am not condemning the courts of justice; I just want to find the answer to this burning question.

I have become “guilty”, though I am blameless. I am not afraid of death – I live awaiting it I lived, worked and walked along the path of justice, caring for those around me. In spite of everything, I have always and always will be convinced that my work is right.

More than once I wrote letters to the senior state organs and even the President, in the hope that justice would prevail. At first they were held in the Kattakurgan and Tashkent prisons, then in the Samarkand prosecutors’ offices. The remainder have never gone beyond the offices of various legal organs.

It seems to me that the work of my friends abroad, who are handling my case, is equally gloomy. One thing in particular disturbs me: no matter how hard it is to exist and how difficult the path to justice, I do not exonerate myself by this. I just want to say this: along the path to the truth, innocent people have suffered. If I, and other journalists like me, are imprisoned; then instead of Justice making decisions it will be lawlessness!

Indifference is not to blame here. I do not know where I am sentenced to, Here or there,But I do know this:

They are waiting for one, for whom Greed is constant Every unjust sentence is an iceberg! And that iceberg today, yesterday, and for 50-80 years was and remains, a powerful force. So others like me have suffered and continue to suffer.

I would like to request that the UN appoint a specific representative to investigate my case. I am a victim of injustice; I have lost my health, my family and my freedom. I think that for any person, nothing could hurt more than that! So, I will hope and wait for justice to triumph. I hope that societies for the protection of human rights will support and understand me.

Sincerely,

Dilmurod Sayid

Front Line Appeal on behalf of Dilmurod Sayid