Ikrom Yakubov alleges that he is a former

intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a rank, used in the same way a ...

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

, in its National Security Service (SNB), who suggests that he defected to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in 2008. He is notable because, after his defection, he confirmed earlier reports that Uzbekistan routinely tortured captives. In 2008, he also alleged that the crash of Uzbekistan Airways Flight 1154 had been engineered by the Uzbek leadership, killing UN Resident Representative Richard Conroy.

Early life

Yakubov described wanting to become an intelligence officer when he was a child because he wanted to follow the example of his father and grandfather, who were senior

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

officers in the old

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Life in the United Kingdom

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

'' reported, in 2011, that Yakubov was convicted of illegally using a phony Portuguese passport. ''Radio Free Europe'' reported that a leading Uzbek human rights worker, Surat Ikramov, challenged Yakubov's account of himself. They reported Ikramov claimed that while Yakubov had worked for the Uzbek government, it was a low-level job, and not as a security official, and he learned no secrets there. Ikramov claimed Yakubov had worked for him, as a translator. He claimed Yakubov had requested permission to extend a trip to the UK, only to then claim

political asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another enti ...

, and then cut his ties to Ikramov and his organization. In 2017 Yakubov submitted a

PhD thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

to the

University of Dundee The University of Dundee; . Abbreviated as ''Dund.'' for post-nominals. is a public university, public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a University college#United Kingdom, university college in 1881 with a donation ...

, entitled ''"The Role of Intelligence in Securitisation Processes: A Tool or An Agent."''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yakubov, Ikram Uzbekistani emigrants to the United Kingdom Uzbekistani government officials Living people Alumni of the University of Dundee Year of birth missing (living people)