 Even though only the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan had the power to shut down Turon, the Ministry of Justice, violating the law, abolished Turon and confiscated all its papers, assets, and other possessions.On February 7, 1993, the Uzbek government banned "Erk" (Liberty), the newspaper affiliated with the Erk/Liberty Democratic Party, the main party of the democratic political opposition.At that time, Mamatov was a chief editor of the paper as well as deputy chairman of the party.