Uzbek government jailed Maxim Popov for 7 years

HIV activists need better protection the International AIDS Society declared today, calling for the release of Maxim Popov, who has been imprisoned for seven years in Uzbekistan for his HIV prevention work.

This week 9 activists were detained in Tanzania, after handing over a memorandum calling on political leaders to fund universal prevention and treatment for HIV/AIDS, and then deported.

Popov is in prison for promoting effective, evidence-based ways to prevent HIV, the IAS stated.

“Popov, 28, is the author of ‘HIV and AIDS Today,’ a brochure that discusses the use of condoms in HIV prevention, the need for sterile needles for injecting drug users, and education on HIV prevention within same-sex relations,” said IAS executive director Robin Gorna.

“In his training workshops with school teachers, Popov, used a text-book ‘Healthy Lifestyles, The Guidance for Teachers, published in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan with support of USAID and UNDP, which advises using condoms to protect oneself from HIV.

“The Uzbek government said that the book constituted an ‘assault on minors without violence’ and ordered the book incinerated and barred from circulation. Izis, the AIDS NGO founded by Popov, with support from a wide array of donors including USAID and DfID, has shut down since his jailing.

“Imprisoning Maxim Popov is not only a violation of human rights, but it has hurt public health efforts in Uzbekistan,” said Gorna. “In most countries around the world the work done by Maxim Popov would be drawing praise and support.”

Uzbekistan has one of the world’s fastest-rising HIV infection rates, the UNAIDS reports.

About 16,000 cases of HIV were reported in 2009 – more than an eleven-fold increase from 1,400 cases in 2001.

IAS president Julio Montaner said: “I urge all influential political and public health leaders to join IAS in calling for Maxim Popov’s release from prison.”

Homosexuality is a crime in Uzbekistan and the Popov verdict obtained by Eurasia.net, shows he was also convicted of distributing copies of a UNAIDS publication, “HIV and Men who have Sex with Men in Asia and the Pacific”, according to a report on the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association website.

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