Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The criminal case against former Uzbekistan Minister of Agriculture Aziz Voitov has been moved to a closed session, Dunyo news agency reported.

The Mirabad District Criminal Court decided to conduct the proceedings in a closed format, granting a request from one of the plaintiffs. In addition to Voitov, the cases of 49 other defendants will also be heard in closed sessions.

Previously, Gafur Makhkamov, a representative from the Agricultural Services Agency, requested that the court conduct the hearing in a closed format, which led to protests from the defendants and their lawyers.

Earlier, Judge Sardor Sadikov had allowed coverage of the case but prohibited media representatives from taking photos, videos, or recording audio materials.