On September 23, 2019, at the OSCE meeting in Warsaw, the speech of an Uzbek oppositioner shocked the representatives of the 57 participating states from North America, Europe, and Asia.

In an international arena, Hasanboy Burhanov, the founder and leader of the opposition movement Erkin O’zbekiston, demanded the Uzbek special services arrest Shavkat Mirziyoyev on charges of high treason, unlawful retention of power, and the murder of two or more people. To understand why such a sharp message was delivered at such a high level, we decided to take a closer look at the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

A Tajik Boy Conquers Uzbekistan

Shavkat Miromonovich Mirziyoyev was born on July 24, 1957, in the village of “Yakhtan” in the Republic of Tajikistan and is ethnically Tajik. The name of the village “Yakhtan” is an assimilation of the Tajik word “yakhdon” — refrigerator, as strong winds constantly blow across the plain, especially in winter. Due to harsh climatic and sanitary conditions, in the mid-1960s, Shavkat moved with his parents to the Zaamin district of Uzbekistan.

In their new place of residence, the Mirziyoyev family introduced themselves as Uzbeks, serving the local nobility and blending in unnoticed among the population.

A difficult childhood and the hardships of his early years instilled in Shavkat an inferiority complex that affected all areas of his future life.

The First Step to Power

His career in the executive branch began in 1992 when he became the head of the administration of the Mirzo-Ulugbek district in Tashkent. With an unstable personality, Mirziyoyev was known for his quarrelsome nature and penchant for intrigue. Being poorly educated, he was known to enjoy swearing and physical abuse when interacting with subordinates or those of lower rank.

To illustrate his character, let’s consider an incident from 1995. As district head, he personally came to demolish the garage of a 70-year-old disabled man who refused to comply. When the man tried to defend his property, Mirziyoyev cursed and pushed him to make way for the machinery. The man, unable to stay on his feet, fell. Taking advantage of the old man’s vulnerability, Mirziyoyev kicked him several times in the stomach, and his aides dragged the man away. The old man’s wife, who witnessed the abuse, had a heart attack and died a few days later.

To seek justice for the humiliation and abuse, Eduard Ashotovich Gevorkyan, the elderly man, sued Shavkat Mirziyoyev in the Mirzo-Ulugbek Interdistrict Civil Court. However, the case dragged on for years, and Mirziyoyev ultimately avoided punishment. The old man died alone and in poverty, never seeing justice.

A Psychopathic Leader

From September 1996 to December 2003, Mirziyoyev headed the administrations of the Jizzakh and Samarkand regions. During his tenure, many major enterprises went bankrupt, and valuable equipment was sold by Mirziyoyev’s associates to neighboring Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. Profitable businesses were taken over by Mirziyoyev’s relatives, and extortion of large sums from business representatives became the norm. Those who dared to protest the illegal activities faced criminal charges and imprisonment.

The capital accumulated through criminal means was shared by Shavkat Mirziyoyev with Tatyana Karimova and high-ranking officials from the security services, Rustam Inoyatov and Abdulaziz Kamilov. In return, they turned a blind eye to all crimes, protected, and lobbied for Mirziyoyev’s career advancement.

During the cotton harvest in the Jizzakh region, Mirziyoyev beat a school principal to death simply because he did not send students to the fields during the rain.

In another case, to meet the wheat harvest target, Mirziyoyev personally went to the fields and seized surplus crops even from farmers who had already met their quotas. One woman refused to give up her harvest, stating she had fulfilled her quota. In a fit of rage, Mirziyoyev struck her, causing her to fall into the blades of a working combine. The woman died on the spot.

There are numerous examples like that.

In December 2003, President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov appointed Mirziyoyev as Prime Minister of the country. From this period, violence, and vulgarity became the norm across all levels of power, also against women.

2004 marked the start of total corruption in Uzbekistan. With immense power and influential patrons, Mirziyoyev significantly expanded his corrupt activities.

Year after year, the Prime Minister reported to the President of Uzbekistan that up to one million new jobs were being created annually. Hundreds of millions of US dollars were allocated from the state budget for these programs, which were subsequently embezzled as the jobs existed only on paper. The clear evidence of this is the large number of Uzbek migrant workers scattered around the world.

Due to the harmful and anti-Uzbek policies pursued by Mirziyoyev and his Persian-speaking team, Uzbekistan’s economy and agriculture fell into decline, and promising and competent Uzbek personnel left the country.

Mirziyoyev was among the main figures involved in the 2005 Andijan massacre, when government troops shot over a thousand peaceful demonstrators.

In 2009, under the leadership of Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the construction of the Sardoba Reservoir began in Uzbekistan, costing 404 million US dollars, which he called the “construction of the century.” We will return to this story later.

The Sudden Death of Islam Karimov or a Coup d’État

From January 2016, Kremlin agents in Uzbekistan, Rustam Inoyatov, and Abdulaziz Kamilov, systematically replaced President Karimov’s staff, completing the process by mid-August. On August 27, 2016, Islam Karimov suffered a stroke and was placed on life support.

On September 2, 2016, Shavkat Mirziyoyev and his associates, disregarding the law and all ethical norms, decided to disconnect Karimov from life support and cease treatment aimed at prolonging his life. This decision should have been made by the President’s closest relatives: his wife, children, and adult grandchildren.

According to Article 96 of the Constitution of Uzbekistan, if the current President is unable to perform his duties, his functions temporarily fall to the Chairman of the Senate, who must hold extraordinary presidential elections within three months.

Thus, the position of Senate Chairman is elected for emergencies, to temporarily lead the country and be the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of Uzbekistan.

On September 8, 2016, at a joint session of the Uzbek parliament, Senate Chairman Nigmatulla Yuldashev, ignoring the Constitution, stepped aside in favor of Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who became the acting President. The appointive position was given to a person already in office.

Using the full power of administrative resources, Mirziyoyev ensured a guaranteed victory in the early presidential elections. On December 14, 2016, at a joint session of the parliamentary chambers, he took the solemn oath and swore on the Quran and the Constitution.

The unconstitutional seizure of power in Uzbekistan was made possible with the preliminary agreement and full support of the Kremlin and its leader Vladimir Putin, who made a private visit to the country on September 6, 2016, the third day of the mourning ceremony for Islam Karimov.

From this moment, key decisions on Uzbekistan’s foreign and domestic policy are made exclusively after consultations with the Kremlin. In essence, official Tashkent has come under the total control of Moscow.