Mubashshir Ahmad. Photo: uznur.uz
Mubashshir Ahmad (real name Alisher Tursunov), founder of the religious website Azon.uz, has been sentenced to 2 years and 6 months of imprisonment, according to the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan.
The verdict was announced on October 8 at the Criminal Court of the Uchtepa District of Tashkent. Ahmad was found guilty under three articles of the Criminal Code:
▪ Part 2 of Article 156 — “Incitement of national, racial, ethnic, or religious hatred”;
▪ Clause “g” of Part 3 of Article 244−1 — “Production, storage, distribution, or demonstration of materials posing a threat to public safety and public order”;
▪ Article 244−3 — “Illegal production, storage, import, or distribution of religious materials.”
Ahmad will serve his sentence in a general regime colony.
The court also ordered the blocking of his social media pages and channels (Mubaşşir Ahmad and Azon Global — Муқобил ахборот-таҳлилий канал) on YouTube and other platforms.
Mubashshir Ahmad is 51 years old. He founded the information and analytical portal Azon.uz in 2017, which specialized in news and articles on Islam. Some of the site’s content was criticized by authorities. In August 2023, the Azon media group suspended all its projects. In November 2023, the portal Azon Global was launched, operating in several languages. In December 2023, Ahmad was detained by Turkish authorities and placed in a deportation center, from which he was released in February 2024. A year later, in February 2025, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan declared him wanted for creating and participating in banned organizations. In May 2025, Turkish authorities deported him to Uzbekistan.
