[2] Before his journalistic career he taught Russian language and literature for 23 years in a village school in the Amu Darya district of Karakalpakstan.
Abdurahmanov stated that the drugs had been planted in retaliation for a story he had recently published about alleged corruption of traffic police.
After blood tests found no narcotics in Abdurahmanov's system, the authorities increased the charge to possession with intent to sell.
[4] His imprisonment was condemned by a number of international human rights NGOs, which alleged that his arrest was connected to his journalism and activism for the Karakalpakstan separatist movement.
[11] The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe stated that the drug charges were "made-up" and that Abdurahmanov's trial "did not stand the scrutiny of a fair procedure.
[13] Jeff Gedmin, president of Abdurahmanov's former employer Radio Free Europe, also spoke against the arrest, stating, "If President Islam Karimov is eager to rehabilitate his country's reputation, he should stop treating free speech as a criminal offense and let Abdurahmanov and nearly 20 other journalists and human rights defenders out of prison immediately.
[7][16][17] The UN Human Rights Council later ruled against Abdurahmanov's conviction and recommended that he be compensated for his arrest and unfair trial and imprisonment.