The case of Oybek Noryigitov According to Noryigitov, he was summoned to the district culture centre at 6pm on 18 January 2019, along with over 400 other farmers in the district, and forced to file an application to rescind his land under pressure from district police officers.161 He says that farmers who refused to file the application were detained in the hall until 1am.162 Noryigitov claims that despite this he did not file the application.163 Noryigitov alleges that he was threatened with the confiscation of his farmland for failing to fulfil the stateset cotton quota in 2018.156 He also alleges that the deputy hokim of Pop district pressured him to achieve the quota and threatened that his land lease would be terminated if he did not. Under pressure, Noryigitov therefore agreed to an application for his land lease to be terminated in his name but without a date or signature, in the event that he failed to again achieve the cotton quota. On 28 December 2018, a letter was registered by the Pop district hokimiyat for the ‘voluntary termination of the land lease agreement’ that transferred Noryigitov’s farmland to the Pop district land reserve. On 4 February 2019, decree no. 296 formally transferred 31.6 hectares of land belonging to the Zaynatbegim Mobinakhon farm, as well as other farmlands, to the Shuhrat Umid Servis farm.164 Oybek Noryigitov was interviewed by project researchers on 17 May 2022. Noryigitov was appointed manager of the farm ‘Zaynatbegim Mobinahon’ in Pop district, Namangan region on 31 May 2018, by decision no. 1307 issued by the Pop district hokim, Azam Sultanov. The farm was established on 24 December 2015 and comprised 31.6 hectares.155 Noryigitov says that he did not write this letter and that his signature was forged.157 In January 2019, the hokim of Pop district issued the decision to terminate the contract and lease the land to another farmer. Decision no. 60, dated 10 January 2019,158 and the additional decision no. 158/85,159 dated 18 January 2019, both issued by the Pop district hokim, transfer the farmland to the Pop district land reserve. Noryigitov says that he was unaware of these decisions and carried on working on the farm.160 In December 2020, Oybek Noryigitov filed a lawsuit with the Administrative Court to invalidate decrees 158/85 and 60.165 On 11 December 2020, Judge Tadjibayev of the Namangan regional Administrative Court ruled that the required state duty had not been paid by Noryigitov, and that other necessary documents had not been certified.166 On 18 August 2021, the same court again heard the case, and rejected the claim on the basis that the applicant had failed to file his case within three months of learning of the hokim’s decision.167 Noryigitov’s appeal against the 18 August 2021 decision of the Namangan regional Administrative Court was rejected by the Appellate Court on 26 October 2021.168 163. 52 A False Sense of Legality Personal communication, Oybek Noryigitov, 17 May 2022.