Akram Yuldashev

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Akram Yuldashev (born in 1963) is the founder of Akramiya, a militant Islamist organization that operates in Uzbekistan. The Uzbek government has designated and banned Akramiya as terrorist.^[1]

Yuldashev worked as a math teacher and for a furniture company in Andijan, Uzbekistan before forming Akramiya. In 1992 he published Yimonga Yul, a pamphlet advocating Islamic values that gained him support among the populace. Uzbek police arrested him in 1998 for possession of narcotics. A court sentenced him to 30 months imprisonment, but the government released him in December 1998. Police arrested him in February 1999 after the Tashkent bombings, accusing him of involvement. A court sentenced him to 17 years imprisonment for heading Akramiya.^[1]

[edit] Family

His wife, Yodgoroi Yuldasheva, has lived in Boise, Idaho, United States along with 52 other refugees since the Andijan massacre in May 2005. Yuldashev has appeared on state-run television three times, apologizing for encouraging the unrest and telling refugees they should return to Uzbekistan. Yuldasheva herself has asked the Uzbek government for permission to return, but has not yet received an answer.^[2] His wife has denied Yuldashev has any ties to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a militant organization affiliated with Al-Qaeda, or Hizb ut-Tahrir, another Islamist organization.^[1]