On March 3, Uzbekistan’s presidential press secretary Sherzod Asadov announced that Aziz Tashpulatov, formerly head of the Main Department of Internal Affairs of Tashkent, had been named the minister of internal affairs.
A few hours later, the Ministry of Internal Affairs put out a statement that echoed Asadov’s announcement and noted that Pulat Bobojonov, who had led the ministry since September 2017, had been appointed First Deputy Advisor to the President on Personnel Policy.
A reason for Bobojonov’s reassignment has not been given by Uzbek authorities, but observers have linked it to the overall shuffle of security service personnel that started in the wake of the October 2024 attempted assassination of Komil Allamjonov.
In February, 10 people were found guilty by the Military Court of Uzbekistan for their involvement in the assassination attempt. The Supreme Court announced the verdict and sentences on February 12, providing partial details on five of those found guilty. Shukhrat Rasulov, Shokhrukh Akhmedov, and Ismoil Jahongirov were each given a 23-year sentence.
Akhmedov and Jahongirov appeared in a video posted to social media the day after late October attack on Allamjonov’s vehicle, confessing. The two men had been previously linked to an assassination attempt targeting critics of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov in Turkiye in 2021. Akhmedov, in particular, was reported to be a bodyguard and driver for Javlon Yunusov.
Yunusov, who was given a 18.5 year sentence, was extradited from South Korea, where he’d fled after the attempted assassination, in November 2024. Kun.uz reported that Yunusov “acted as an intermediary between the mastermind and the perpetrators” of the attack.
The authorities have never public identified a motive for the attack or the mastermind, but reporting by The Diplomat and Ozodlik suggests its roots lie in the “the office,” a deep-state organization purportedly headed by Otabek Umarov, a son-in-law of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. In late November, Ozodlik reported that Umarov had been dismissed from the post of first deputy chairman of the State Security Service.
Rasulov, who was given a 23-year sentence, headed the Internal Security Department of the State Security Service from 2018 to 2020. Sources told RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service, Ozodlik, that Rasulov was Umarov’s “right hand” man.
The Supreme Court in February announced the sentence of one other individual: Seven years for Doniyor Tashkhodjaev, who reportedly was accused of attempting to conceal the crime and obstruct the investigation. He was, until his dismissal in November’s purge, first deputy chief of the Main Department of Internal Affairs of Tashkent.
The shuffling of officials in the wake of a scandal is standard fare. For some, punishment is meted out; for others, there’s a chance to rise. The divergent fates of Tashkhodjaev and Tashpulatov, both formerly of the Main Department of Internal Affairs of Tashkent, illustrate this. The shake-up may not be over, but there’s no guarantee it will be effective in restoring a degree of trust in the security services on the part of the president, let alone the people.
Last month, after the Supreme Court announced the Military’s Court’s verdicts and the sentences, Allamjonov made a rare public comment on the case, posting a statement on Telegram: “What I have experienced over the past five months is known only to me, my family and my closest friends. But the truth, even when they tried to break it, remained unbreakable and still came out.”
“There is still work to be done, many more trying days ahead,” he said.