Asia | Cracking down in Uzbekistan

The fate of a ranting driver raises doubts about the “new” Uzbekistan

It seems free speech is not so guaranteed after all

Stills from Gayrat Dustov's video tirade on social media
Photograph: Via Instagram
|ALMATY

THE JAILING of dissenters is nothing new in Uzbekistan, Central Asia’s most populous country, where faulting the president can land you in trouble. What is unusual is the recent public outcry after the imprisonment of an ordinary motorist, who found himself behind bars after his tirade over fuel shortages went viral.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “The fate of a fuel-frustrated driver”

From the January 25th 2025 edition

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