Human rights defender and journalist Umida Niyazova was released from custody on 8 May 2007 and given a suspended sentence following her appeal hearing against the seven-year prison sentence handed down to her on 1 May 2007.

Umida Niyazova's sentence was reduced to a seven year suspended sentence but under the conditions of her release she has to adhere to a 10.00 pm curfew, report regularly to the local police station and she is also obliged to inform the authorities of any change in her profession. It is also reported that she will remain under surveillance for at least three years.

On 1 May 2007, Umida Niyazova had been sentenced to seven years imprisonment by the Sergeli District Court in Tashkent. She was charged under article 246, part 1 of the Uzbek criminal code for “smuggling”, due to the fact that she failed to declare her laptop when crossing the border. She was also prosecuted under article 223, part 1 for allegedly crossing a border illegally, and article 244/1, part 3 for allegedly bringing "extremist" literature across the border.

There are widespread concerns that she did not receive a fair trial and she had been subjected to cruel and inhumane treatment during her detention with reports of lengthy daily interrogations lasting up to 15 hours, sleep deprivation, and loud music being played into her cell.

Umida Niyazova was initially detained on 21 December 2006 at Tashkent airport where she was questioned at length and allegedly threatened with criminal charges for possession of anti-state materials on her laptop computer, which contained a report on the Andijan mass killings of May 2005 that was released by Human Rights Watch, an international non-governmental organization. Officials in Tashkent airport reportedly confiscated both her laptop and her passport. In January 2007, Umida Niyazova was informed by her lawyer that the expert commission investigating her case had found that there were no grounds to bring charges against her. Umida Niyazova organised a meeting with her lawyer for 22 January in order to collect her laptop and passport, however she did not appear for the meeting and was not heard from again until 26 January. She had been arrested on 22 January and detained in Andijan, in the southeast of the country, before being moved to Tashkent on 22 January, where she was held until her trial.

Umida Niyazova is a freelance journalist and translator for the Human Rights Watch office in Tashkent. She has also previously worked with the international non-governmental organisations Internews and Freedom House.

Front Line is concerned that although Umida Niyazova's prison sentence has been suspended her release is not unconditional and the conviction against her still stands.