Azam Farmonov is an Uzbekistani rural development activist who spent 11 years in prison following conviction for extortion in 2006.
[3] On 29 April 2006, Farmonov was arrested along with fellow activist Alisher Karamatov and charged with extortion.
[2] The two later reported torture by security forces, including partial suffocation with a disconnected gas mask and beatings on the legs and heels.
[4] Front Line also described the arrests as politically motivated and "part of an ongoing campaign against human rights defenders in Uzbekistan.
[1] Farmonov was freed from Jaslik on 3 October 2017, two and a half years before the end of his extended prison sentence.