Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — An underground cell affiliated with the religious-extremist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir has been uncovered as a result of a special operation carried out by the State Security Service Directorate for Ferghana Region in cooperation with law enforcement agencies.

According to the authorities, a resident of Kokand, born in 1962, who had previously been a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir and served a prison sentence from 2000 to 2019 for crimes under Articles 159, 244¹, and 244² of the Criminal Code, organized an illegal group consisting of four individuals born between 1965 and 1971.

Throughout 2024 and 2025, the group regularly met in teahouses and local eateries around Kokand, where they discussed the ideology of Hizb ut-Tahrir, supported extremist views expressed in the group’s publications, and promoted the idea of establishing a caliphate.

The members were also active in a private Telegram channel, where they frequently accessed materials associated with the banned religious-extremist organization.

Authorities noted that one of the detained individuals, born in 1971, had previously served 23 years in prison for participating in Hizb ut-Tahrir's activities and had been released in April 2024. Another group member had a prior conviction related to fraud.

A criminal case has been opened against the suspects under Articles 159, 244¹, and 244² of Uzbekistan’s Criminal Code, and they have been placed in pre-trial detention.