Muslim Uzbek cleric Alisher Tursunov. Photo: Screenshot

A prominent independent Muslim Uzbek cleric went on trial on Tuesday in Tashkent on charges of promoting extremism and inciting hatred against Israel, in one of the highest-profile cases regarding religious practices in recent years.

Alisher Tursunov, widely known as Mubashshir Ahmad, faces charges of inciting religious hatred, distribution of materials that threaten public order, and illegal distribution of materials with religious content. In total, the charges carry a penalty of five to eight years in prison.

Tursunov, 51, ran a popular religious media project, Azon.uz, which had some 1.2 million subscribers on YouTube before he shut it down in 2023 under threat of legal punishment. He subsequently moved to Turkey, where he was arrested and extradited to Uzbekistan in May.

The charges stem from both his work on the Azon.uz project as well as posts the cleric made on social media, according to his lawyer. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, local media reported.

In a post on his Telegram channel in April, Tursunov spoke out in favor of a fatwa issued by the International Union of Muslim Scholars, a Qatar-based group, advocating for jihad against Israel over “the bloodshed in Gaza.”

“I would ask our government to listen to these calls,” Tursunov said. “We are all Muslims, including leaders on top, and we should follow the fatwa issued to Muslims.”

Uzbekistan, a landlocked, majority Muslim country in Central Asia home to some 38 million people, has had diplomatic relations with Israel since soon after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Islam Karimov, who ruled Uzbekistan as president from 1991 until his death in 2016, was widely criticized for cracking down on Muslims under the pretext of fighting religious fundamentalism and terrorism.

Karimov’s successor, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, initially relaxed strict religious restrictions, but in recent years has instituted curbs on religious freedom, according to Human Rights Watch.