Behzod Kabulov announced that he has been relieved from his position as the press secretary and advisor on information policy to the governor of Tashkent region. This was reported by Upl.uz.
He stated that he made this decision following public accusations against former deputy and public activist Feruza Babasheva regarding the defamation of her honor and dignity. Kabulov was appointed to this position in September 2022.
In a post on his personal Facebook page, he announced that after thoroughly analyzing all circumstances, he decided to resign. In his statement, he emphasized that he could not remain silent due to accusations linked to him against colleagues who work honestly.
The former press secretary did not elaborate on the problems that arose concerning him but expressed regret that this negative information flow occurred during the holiday period. He also stressed that the final legal assessment of the situation should be given by the court and law enforcement agencies.
Kabulov’s resignation coincided almost simultaneously with a video appeal by Feruza Babasheva. In it, she spoke about a slander campaign launched against her, including offensive messages spread from an anonymous account on the Telegram messenger and later from an account believed to belong to Kabulov.
Sources within the Tashkent regional administration suggest that Kabulov’s resignation may be directly related to this incident. This matter is being widely discussed in the mass media and social networks in Uzbekistan.
So far, authorized agencies have not commented on the official investigation initiation regarding Babasheva’s complaint. According to Article 139 of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan, defamation—disseminating knowingly false information that insults another person’s honor and dignity—is considered a crime.
If defamation is spread through print or other types of media, including the internet, the penalties can be even more severe.
