During the protests in Nukus, 516 people were detained, 243 people were injured, 94 of them remain in hospitals. This was announced by a representative of the Prosecutor General's Office of Uzbekistan, Uznews.uz reports.
It also reported the death of 18 people. They died from their severe injuries, the Prosecutor General's Office said.
On the eve of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed to abandon the amendments to the constitution, which deprived the country's largest province of Karakalpakstan of sovereignty and ruled out the possibility of secession from the republic.
Protests broke out over the draft constitutional amendments in Karakalpakstan, with the main rallies taking place in Nukus, the capital of Karakalpakstan.
Karakalpakstan is a sovereign republic located in the west of Uzbekistan. About two million people live in it, among which there are Karakalpaks, Uzbeks and Kazakhs. Two official languages are recognized in the republic: Karakalpak and Uzbek. In 1936, the Kara-Kalpak Autonomous Region became part of the Uzbek SSR. In 1990, the Supreme Council of the Karakalpak ASSR adopted a declaration of state sovereignty, and in 1993, the country's authorities signed an interstate agreement on the entry of Karakalpakstan into Uzbekistan. This treaty enshrined the right to secede from the country.
