Not surprisingly, Anvar Nabiev, a Deputy Prosecutor General, has been recently arrested by the law enforcement bodies of Uzbekistan. Shuffling high ranking officials has already become a usual procedure for Uzbekistan, as president Islam Karimov very often changes people in key position in both in central and local governments.

Anvar Nabiev is a well known person in Uzbekistan, because he was one of the key decision makers during the Andijan uprising. After the uprising was cruelly suppressed, Nabiev’s popularity skyrocketed among the ruling elite and he was appointed as Deputy Prosecutor General of Uzbekistan.

There are already different thoughts concerning the arrest of the high ranking official. Nathan at Registan.net writes:

One cannot help but think that his arrest is part of the Uzbek government’s campaign to impress the West with its sudden interest in cleaning up its act and showing a stronger commitment to human rights.

Noting Uzbekistan is trying to get close to US, this could be very true. However, taking into consideration that Islam Karimov has a long history of shuffling high ranking officials, thus giving no chances to other to gain authority and support, it would be too naïve to think that Anvar Nabiev was arrested to please the West.