The Supreme Court of Uzbekistan has exonerated posthumously 198 individuals convicted by the Soviet regime in the 1920s-1930s for “counter-revolutionary actions, armed uprisings, terrorism, banditry and espionage, and anti-Soviet activities,” RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service reported.
The Supreme Court announced on May 6 its decision to exonerate the men, many of whom were sentenced to death and others who were incarcerated for many years.
The exonerated were from Uzbekistan’s Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan, the regions of Bukhara, Namangan, Xorazm, and Jizzax, as well as from Tashkent, the capital.
“At this moment, justice was decided. The truth that had been kept veiled for years was celebrated. The holy names of the repressions’ victims, who selflessly fought for independence and sacrificed their own lives, will live forever in the hearts of our people,” the court statement said.
In August 2023, the Supreme Court exonerated 240 people convicted in the 1920s-1930s by the Soviet regime for taking part in the Basmachi (Raiders) movement, which fiercely fought against Russian and Soviet forces.
In August 2021, the court exonerated 115 people convicted in the 1920s-1930s by the Soviet regime.
The Supreme Court said at the time that those exonerated had been recognized as victims of Soviet repression by a special commission established in accordance with a 2020 order by President Shavkat Mirziyoev. The case materials revealed that the men were sentenced by troikas of the Soviet OGPU (Joint State Political Directorate), the predecessor of the Soviet KGB.
The Basmachi movement, which started during World War I in Central Asia, was eradicated by the Soviets by the late 1920s. However, clashes between Soviet forces and remaining Basmachi rebels along the border with Afghanistan continued until the early 1930s.
According to the Supreme Court, it has exonerated 1,031 individuals who were repressed during the Soviet era on the territory of what is now Uzbekistan.
