Prominent Uzbek artist banned from travel
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 24 October 2012 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Prominent Uzbek artist banned from travel, 24 October 2012, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5090e5a1c.html [accessed 2 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
October 24, 2012
By RFE/RL's Uzbek Service
Uzbek authorities have told a prominent artist that he is prohibited from traveling abroad or leaving the Tashkent region where he lives.
The travel ban on Vyacheslav Okhunov comes as the artist has equated Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, with a monkey in his works of art.
Asked why the travel ban was handed down, Uzbek government official Nodir Ziyaev said travel restrictions were sometimes needed to prevent citizens from divulging state secrets.
But he declined to say what secrets Okhunov could have.
Okhunov, born in 1948 in Osh, Kyrgyzstan, was a dissident during Soviet times.
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