Jahangir Mamatov

Jahangir Mamatov is a PhD, linguist, lexicographer, author, journalist, and a political analyst of Central Asian issues. He is a former member of the Uzbek Parliament and a co-author of Uzbekistan's Declaration of Independence. His writings, tenure in parliament, and other political activities were often greatly at odds with the Uzbek government. He was arrested but escaped into exile for many years. In 2005 he was instrumental in forming the democratic opposition group Congress of Democratic Uzbekistan (CDU) and became its first chairman. His writings are still banned in Uzbekistan.