Salijon Abdurahmanov

Career Abdurahmanov worked as a correspondent for Radio Free Europe until 2005. At the time of his arrest, he was a contributor to Voice of America's Uzbek service as well as to the independent news site uznews.net.

Arrest for drug possession On 7 June 2008, Abdurahmanov was stopped by traffic police, who searched his car and claimed to have found of marijuana and of opium in the vehicle. Abdurahmanov stated that the drugs had been planted in retaliation for a story he had recently published about alleged corruption among traffic police. After blood tests found no narcotics in Abdurahmanov's system, the authorities increased the charge to possession with intent to sell. On 10 October 2008, he was found guilty by a district court and sentenced to ten years in prison. Front Line stated that it was "deeply concerned" by the arrest, The Committee to Protect Journalists called for Abdurahmanov's release and for the Uzbek government to be held accountable for his detention. The OSCE stated that the drug charges were "made‑up" and that Abdurahmanov's trial "did not stand the scrutiny of a fair procedure". Human Rights Watch called the conviction "an affront to human rights and free speech".

Jeff Gedmin, president of Abdurahmanov's former employer Radio Free Europe, also spoke against the arrest, stating: "If President Islam Karimov is eager to rehabilitate his country's reputation, he should stop treating free speech as a criminal offence and let Abdurahmanov and nearly 20 other journalists and human rights defenders out of prison immediately."

Release from prison On 4 October 2017, Abdurahmanov was released after serving nine years and four months in prison. On his release, he thanked human rights organisations for their advocacy.

The UN Human Rights Council later ruled against Abdurahmanov's conviction and recommended that he be compensated for his arrest, unfair trial, and imprisonment. As a result, Abdurahmanov applied to the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan to have his conviction overturned. A half‑hour court hearing on 23 September 2019 refused the application.

In May 2020, Abdurahmanov gave an interview to Amnesty International in which he discussed the strength he had drawn from international letters of support while he was in prison.

Death Abdurahmanov died in Germany on 26 July 2025, at the age of 75.