Front Line is deeply concerned following reports that members of the police have raided the home of human rights defender Yelena Urlayeva on 29 May 2008. The police, acting on orders from a judge of Tashkent’s Mirzo-Ulugbek district, broke into her apartment, carried out a thorough inventory of her belongings and cut off her water supply and electricity due to a reported payment of $30 that was pending on her utility bill. During their search, which was carried out in a disrespectful manner, damaging much of her property, the police paid particular attention to documents that she had in her apartment.

Further Information

Posted 30/05/2008 Yelena Urlayeva has been the subject of harassment and arbitrary detention in the past, most recently on 13 May 2008 when she was taken into custody and later placed under house arrest in order to prevent her, along with other human rights defenders, from participating in a commemorative event to mark the third anniversary of the Andijan massacre.

Front Line believes that this raid and the fact that the authorities cut off the utilities of her home is directly related to Yelena Urlayeva's human rights activities. Yelena Urlayeva, a member of the Human Rights Alliance of Uzbekistan and one of the most prominent human rights activists in Uzbekistan.