TASHKENT -- Nurullo Otakhonov, a self-exiled Uzbekistani writer who returned from Turkey to his homeland, was arrested at the Tashkent airport Wednesday (September 27), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported, quoting his wife, Gulnara Otakhonova.
Police did not explain why they were arresting her husband, said Otakhonova.
Otakhonov was heeding President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's call for Uzbekistani intellectuals living abroad to come home, he told RFE/RL before flying to Tashkent. He moved to Turkey in 2015 after being fired from two jobs.
While in Turkey, Otakhnov wrote a book entitled Bu Kunlar (These Days), which was a critique of Uzbekistan’s development since it became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Since taking office last year, Mirziyoyev has carried out various reforms, including freeing some political prisoners and reducing a blacklist of suspected extremists.
