"Beshyog'och" controversy: Who is the owner of the land subject to demolition?

A few weeks ago, news spread on social media about the demolition of the "Beshyog'och" neighborhood building in the Chilonzor district of Tashkent city, with plans to construct a new hotel in its place. After officials failed to address the situation, local community activists appealed to the district court. 

As previously reported, the first hearing took place on February 19 of this year, with three applicants, lawyers from the Tashkent city and Chilonzor district administrations, and a group of listeners present. During the hearing, the parties were heard, and the court adjourned to a later date. 

Today, on February 26, the second hearing of the case was held. The hearing, chaired by Chilonzor district judge Sultonov, was attended by four applicants, lawyers from the Tashkent city and Chilonzor district administrations, the district prosecutor, and a group of listeners. 

Due to the need for further documentation to reach a clear conclusion, the court session was postponed to March 7. At the next hearing, in addition to the aforementioned individuals, specialists from the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, the Cadastre Agency, and official representatives from the "Beshyog'och" MFI and the construction company "One Housing Group" are expected to attend. 

One of the applicants, Javlon Mahmudov, stated that during this court session, decisions made by the Tashkent city and Chilonzor district mayors, which had been hidden from the public, were disclosed.

"Today, we were allowed to examine the decisions of the city and district mayors, but we were not allowed to take copies. We consider this illegal. In matters like this, the mayor's decision, as well as the president’s, should be open to the public. This is not a state secret. This is not some military object or a gold mine that needs to be hidden," he said.

Mahmudov further explained that the construction project was planned as a public-private partnership, with the participation of the Chilonzor district administration, the "Beshyog'och" neighborhood, and "One Housing Group."

"According to the law on public-private partnerships, everything should be publicly available. The open information lists other partners, but ‘One Housing Group’ is not mentioned there. We took a screenshot of this from the internet and presented it to the court," he emphasized.

Additionally, Mahmudov pointed out that it remains unclear who owns the land where the neighborhood building once stood. For this reason, the court is planning to involve specialists from the Cadastre Agency in the next session.

"This property doesn’t have a cadastre. This building was constructed three years ago, but according to our elder, the authorities have been obstructing the acquisition of the cadastre by various means. It seems that the mayor is transferring buildings to other individuals as he wishes. The first owner of this building needs to be found, and if it’s legitimate, cadastre should be issued," the plaintiff said.