On 11th November 2021, a delegation from Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain visited the Swedish embassy in London to deliver a personal letter to the Swedish Ambassador protesting the imminent deporting of one of the party members to Uzbekistan where he is likely to suffer torture and inhuman treatment. The text of the letter is printed below.

Dear Ambassador Granit,

Late in the evening on October 29, Odiljon Jalilov, a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Sweden, was arrested by the police and taken into custody pending preparations for deportation to Uzbekistan.

We would like to bring to the attention of the Ambassador the well-known Human Rights abuses of the Uzbekistan regime, which has been documented by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW). Abuses include torture, rape in detention, extrajudicial killings, and boiling of political opponents alive.

For 30 years the tyrant Karimov fought fiercely against Islam and Hizb ut Tahrir. Thousands of Muslims, including members of Hizb ut Tahrir, were imprisoned for long periods and subjected to brutal torture. The current regime, which inherited Karimov’s regime, is following in its footsteps and fighting in the same way Islam and in particular the party and its members who speak about the ideology of Islam.

The family of Odiljon Jalilov in Uzbekistan say the police have been in contact with them and have informed them that Odiljon Jalilov will soon be back. The deportation and handover of Odiljon Jalilov to the tyrannical Uzbek regime represents a real threat to his life for which Swedish authorities will be responsible if the deportation is carried out.

We would like to also remind the Ambassador of the hospitality shown to your Swedish King Karl XII when he took sanctuary in the Ottoman State in 1709 CE, after defeat to Russia at the battle of Poltava. King Karl XII expenditure during his 5 years of exile was covered by the Ottoman state. Furthermore, Sultan Ahmed III, as a gesture to the King, had bought some of the captured Swedish women and children put up for sale by the Russians and returned them back to the Swedes. These are the Islamic values of good treatment to those who seek refuge, which your King benefitted from in your history. So what Swedish values will your government demonstrate with regards to the potential deportation of Odiljon Jalilov to a torturing, human rights-abusing regime in Uzbekistan?

Yours sincerely,

Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain

6 Rabi’ al-Thani 1443/11 November 2021