The FINANCIAL — Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev has fired the country’s vice premier, Zoyyir Mirzayev, after an RFE/RL report revealed he had humiliated farmers on a recent agricultural inspection trip.
RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service on October 29 investigated a widely circulated photo that showed local officials and farmers in Tashkent Province being humiliated by being forced to stand in a water-filled ditch as an unidentified official behind the camera berated them.
In less than 24 hours, Uzbek Service reporter Saddridin Ashur was able to identify and confirm the exact location where the incident took place, as well as the people present and the identity of the official abusing them.
The RFE/RL report identifying Mirzayev as the one responsible for berating the farmers led to his immediate dismissal from the government.
